The Syrian National Symphony Orchestra (, ) is the national

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. Its home venue is the Damascus Opera House, and many of its members have been educated at the Higher Institute for Music in the same cultural complex on

Umayyad Square Umayyad Square ( / ALA-LC: ''sāḥat al-Umawiyīn'') is a large and important square in Damascus, Syria. It connects the city center with several important highways and areas, and contains important buildings, including the Ministry of Defense, ...

in a central location of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

History and musical activities

The orchestra was founded by Iraqi-born composer and musician Solhi al-Wadi, its first conductor as well as the director of the Higher Institute for Music in Damascus, and gave its first public concert in 1993. On 4 September 1998, the orchestra performed in the United States, at the

Orange County Performing Arts Center The Segerstrom Center for the Arts (originally called Orange County Performing Arts Center) is a performing arts complex in Costa Mesa, California, Costa Mesa, California, United States, which opened in 1986. Designed by Charles Lawrence, the Cen ...

. The orchestra has its permanent home in the Damascus Opera House, and its principal conductor is the Syrian-Armenian

maestro Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning " master" or "teacher," plural: maestros or maestri) is an honorific title of respect, sometimes abbreviated Mo. The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and oper ...

Missak Baghboudarian, who received his academic training in Italy.Classical music, with a Syrian twist: The elite Syrian National Symphony Orchestra finds a novel way to build an audience
Accessed August 2013. The orchestra's

repertoire Repertory or repertoire () is the list or set of works a person or company is accustomed to performing. Whether the English or French spelling is used has no bearing, but it was the French word, with an accent on the first e, , that first took ho ...

includes both Western

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, as well as works by

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

Syrian composers, including Maias Alyamani,

Malek Jandali Malek Jandali (, ) (born 1972) is a West Germany, West German-born Syrian-Americans, American composer and pianist, whose music integrates Middle-Eastern modes and Arabic maqams into Western structures of classical music. He is the founder of th ...

, or

Zaid Jabri Zaid Jabri () is a Syrian-Polish composer, conductor and music educator, who works at the intersection of Western and Middle Eastern musical traditions. He is one of the representatives of the so-called second generation of Syrian composers of ...

. - A charity concert by the orchestra on 3 February 2009 raised $110,000 for an

UNRWA The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA, pronounced ) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians who fl ...

campaign for the children of Gaza. Apart from the symphony orchestra, there is also a

Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music The Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music was a Syrian orchestra dedicated to the performance of classical Arabic music, as well as experimental work based on traditional music from the Middle East. The orchestra played regular concerts in the ...

performing 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 ...

, with musicians like Syrian oud

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...

Issam Rafea, trained in this musical tradition of the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Due to the ongoing civil war in Syria, many musicians have left the country for

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

in Europe, the US or other countries, but still, the musical audience in Damascus, as well as the authorities and remaining musicians, continue with concerts and other musical activities. In July 2020, the SNSO participated with an online performance from Damascus of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's Eroica symphony in a series of friendship concerts, where Italian conductor

Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He is current music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the ...

conducted his Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra with Syrian guest musicians in

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

, Italy. In January 2024, Baghboudarian spoke about the ways the SNSO has adapted to the difficult social situation. Citing the continued great interest of the audience for classical music in Damascus, he mentioned selecting music with a dramatic expression, such as Beethoven's fifth and third symphonies or Mahler's ''Songs on the Death of Children''. Reaching out to young audiences, he talked about a project under the title "Discover Music", directed towards children living in shelters, organized in cooperation with the Syria Trust for Development. In this project the SNSO invited children to attend the orchestra's training sessions, in order to experience live classical music and to learn about musical instruments. During one cold winter, the orchestra only asked visitors to bring along warm clothes for needy children, instead of buying a ticket.

References

{{authority control Musical groups established in 1993 Culture of Syria Syrian orchestras Syrian musical groups Music organizations based in Syria