Zuhal Sultan (; born 1991 in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

) is an Iraqi

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

. She founded the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq at the age of 17.

Early life and music

Born in Baghdad, Iraq, in July 1991, Zuhal Sultan is the youngest of a scientific family of two boys and two girls. Both of her parents obtained their Ph.D. degrees in natural sciences from universities in the United Kingdom. She started

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

studies at the age of six with the help of a private tutor, then she auditioned to join the Music and Ballet School of Baghdad at the age of 9. After the departure from Iraq of many artists and intellectuals as a result of the 2003

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, Zuhal was left without a piano teacher. She therefore taught herself, as well as the younger students in her piano class. Despite all these difficulties, Zuhal has performed concerts both at home and abroad, including Jordan, France, Switzerland and at the

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

, and at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

as a member of the Leonard Bernstein Mass orchestra.

Activism

Zuhal was chosen as a

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Global Changemaker in 2008, and was then invited to become a peer facilitator for their 4th Global Youth Summit in 2009. She was involved with UNICEF and UNESCO in raising awareness through concerts, speeches and media interviews on Iraqi culture as well as Iraqi children's rights and education. Zuhal was a keynote speaker at FairSay's eCampaiging forum in 2009 held at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. She also served as a Global Youth Ambassador for the New York-based charity Musicians For Harmony.she also was the closest friend of Mr.Rekawt Omar Karim in Iraqi Kurdistan Halabja city. She has also participated at the World Economic Forum's Special Meeting on Economic Growth and Job Creation in the Arab World, held at the Dead Sea, Jordan, 21–23 October 2011.

National Youth Orchestra of Iraq

In 2008, she was chosen by

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and Raw T.V. for their web-based programme ''

Battlefront In a military context, the term front can have several meanings. According to official US Department of Defense and NATO definitions, a front can be "the line of contact of two opposing forces."Leonard, B. (2011). Department of Defense Dictio ...

'' to campaign for establishing the first National Youth Orchestra of Iraq. Along with Scottish conductor Paul MacAlindin and Musicians For Harmony's artistic director Allegra Klein, she formed the orchestra with the help of the

and the then Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq

Barham Salih Barham Salih (; ; born 8 September 1960) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the eighth president of Iraq from 2018 to 2022. He is the former prime minister of the Kurdistan Region and a former deputy prime minister of the Iraqi feder ...

, whom she contacted through

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. The orchestra's debut was in August 2009 in the Kurdish city Al Suleimanya. The orchestra then performed in the Kurdish city of Erbil in 2010. Planning is underway are for a follow-up academy in 2011.

Recognition

Zuhal has received a great deal of attention in the American and European media, including stories in the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', ''Symphony Magazine'', ''

Classical Music Magazine ''Classical Music'' is a trade magazine for the classical music industry. It co-sponsors the annual Association of British Orchestras, ABO/Rhinegold Awards for backstage work in music, held for the first time in January 2012, and has a network of ...

'', ''International Piano Magazine'',

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

Television, British Satellite News, and the Italian and French press. Zuhal was named

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

's Young Artist for Intercultural Dialogue between the Arab and Western Worlds in a ceremony held in Spring of 2011 at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris. In 2015 Zuhal was named the Euphrates Institute's Visionary of the Year. She gave a speaking tour across the US and did a number of interviews including NPR and St. Louis public radio.

References

External links

Euphrates Visionary of the YearNPR InterviewArabology Podcast interviewSTL Public Radio interview First Arab Youth Orchestra Founder to Speak in ReddingIraq's youth orchestra founder to visit ReddingIraqi Visionary Inspires with Message of HopeZuhal speaking at National Defense University Ode Magazine Times OnlineAll About JazzZuhal's Twitter PageBBC Arabic Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sultan, Zuhal Musicians from Baghdad 1991 births Living people Iraqi pianists Iraqi women pianists 21st-century pianists Iraqi activists Iraqi women activists