Sonia M'barek (, also spelled Sonia Mbarek, 1969– ) is a Tunisian singer of classical

Arabic music Arabic music () is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse List of music styles, music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also many linguistic Varieties of Arabic, dialects, with each countr ...

and related genres. She was Minister of Culture from January to August 2016.

Early life

M'barek was born in

Sfax Sfax ( ; , ) is a major port city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD849 on the ruins of Taparura, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate (about 955,421 inhabitants in 2014), and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has a ...

, Tunisia. At age nine, she sang traditional

Tunisian music Tunisia is a North African country with a predominantly Arabic-speaking population. The country is best known for Ma'luf, malouf, a kind of music imported from Andalusia after the Moors expulsion in the 15th century. Though in its modern form, m ...

(''malouf'') with the Municipal Theatre of Tunis, under the direction of Tahar Gharsa. At 12, she made her first television appearance, interpreting "Ahkili aliha ya baba", a children's song composed by and performed with Adnène Chaouachi. The success of this song thrust M'barek into the artistic domain.

Education

A student at the National Conservatory of Music at Tunis, she received a degree in

in 1986, and in 1987, with composer Rachid Yeddes, received the prize for the best song at the Festival de la Chanson Tunisienne (for "Khali el hozn baîd alik"). In 1990, she realized a project inspired by

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

, entitled "Musiques sans frontières" ("Music without borders"), which she presented at the Festival International d'Hammamet.

Career

In 1992, M'barek released her first album, ''Liberté''. Between 1993 and 1993, she worked successfully with the oud player

Ali Sriti Ali Sriti () (b. 1919 in Tunis–d. 5 April 2007) was a Tunisian oudist, composer, and music teacher. Biography He learned music at a young age from his father, who encouraged him to listen to classical Arabic music including Egyptians Sayed ...

and his student

Anouar Brahem Anouar Brahem (; born on 20 October 1957) is a Tunisian oud player and composer. He is widely acclaimed as an innovator in his field. Performing primarily for a jazz audience, he combines Arabic classical music, folk music and jazz and has bee ...

, with whom she gave over 30 concerts classical music concerts, which were released on an album called ''Tarab''. In 1997, she released her second solo album, ''Tawchih'', followed in 1999 with ''Takht'', which was distributed throughout Europe, the United States, and Japan by World Network, a German record label. That same year, she gave a concert in Paris, at Café de la Danse, for the Festival Les Belles Nuits du Ramadan. In 2000, she performed at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

in Washington, D.C., during the National African Summit, and during a tour of the

francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

world, she also gave a concert at the United Nations in New York City (Dag-Hammarskjöld Auditorium), and participated in the festival Voix de femmes in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, celebrating the opening of the Halles de Schaerbeek/Hallen van Schaarbeek. M'barek then released the albums ''Tir el Minyiar'' in 2003 and ''Romances'' in 2004.

Personal life

Sonia M'Barek is married and has two children.

Discography

*Liberté (1992) *Tarab (1994) *TAWCHIH (1997) *Takht (1999) *Tir el Miniar (2003) *Romances (2007)

Awards and Honors

* Didon Prize for Female Excellence (Tunisia, 1995) * Diapason d'Or for her CD ''Takht'' (France, 2000) * Medal of the City of

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

for Intercultural Exchange (France, 2011) * Fatima al-Fihriya Award for Promoting Women's Access to Education and Professional Responsibilities in the Mediterranean (Tunisia, 2018)

Accolades

Between 2005 and 2008, M'barek was the first woman to act as director of the Festival de la Chanson Tunisienne, which is organized by the Tunisian

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

. She has been a member of l'Association des Etudes Internationales since 1995, a member of the executive office of

The Rachidia The Rachidia is an artistic and cultural association specializing in Tunisian music. It was created on 3 November 1934 by the intellectual, political and artistic community led by , who was Sheikh el Medina of Tunis at that period. The institu ...

from 2001 to 2003 and, since 2002, goodwill ambassador of the Tunisian Association for the Fight against Cancer.

Publications

* ''Le Statut du musicien en Tunisie'', Paris, L'Harmattan, 2018

References

External links

Sonia M'Barek: Tunisian Singer with Roots in Medieval Iberian Kingdom
''The World'', Public Radio International
Écouter ''Ya Ghusna Naqa'' sur Oriental TunesÉcouter ''Ya Bahjat al-Rouh'' sur Oriental TunesÉcouter ''Bada Biqaddin'' sur Oriental Tunes
{{DEFAULTSORT:M'barek, Sonia 20th-century Tunisian women singers 1969 births People from Sfax Living people Lycée Pierre Mendès France (Tunisia) alumni 21st-century Tunisian women singers Women government ministers of Tunisia Culture ministers of Tunisia