Musical Director, Maestro
The conductor of the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra, born in Damascus (1973), began his musical studies at the Arab Institute of Music, where he studied under Khedr Jneid, Mary Butbuta, and Cynthia Alwadi. He later joined the Higher Institute of Music, where he participated in several concerts and workshops and graduated in 1995 with a specialization in piano and orchestra conducting.
In December 1994, he conducted for the first time under the supervision of Professor Saleh Alwadi, the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra at the Conference Palace, continuing his activities with the orchestra for several concerts and events as an assistant conductor.
He completed his studies in orchestra conducting in Italy with Professor Mauro Cardi (composition) and Alessandro Pinzauti (conducting), as well as with Professor Julius Kalmar (professor at the Hamburg and Vienna academies), in addition to several specialized short courses with Michael Beck (Germany), Dorin Băşteanu (Romania), Carl St. Clair (United States), Riccardo Muti (Italy), and Jorma Panula (Finland).
He worked as the principal conductor of the Amadeus Orchestra in Florence, where he performed many concerts in Tuscany, in addition to his work with the Hans Swarovsky Orchestra (Milan), the Symphony Orchestra of Forlì, the Brunomaderina Symphony Orchestra, the National Academy Orchestra of Bucharest, the New Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra (United States), the National Orchestra of the Dominican Republic, the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of Grisons (Switzerland), the National Symphony Orchestra of Algeria, and the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra (Turkey). He also performed a concert at La Scala Opera House in Milan with La Scala Academy.
He has conducted several concerts with the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra since 2003 in various Syrian cities and abroad (Lebanon, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Italy, and Algeria).
He had the honor of conducting the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra at the opening of the Syrian Opera House in 2004 in the presence of the President of the Republic. He also conducted the opening and closing concerts of Damascus, the Arab Capital of Culture in 2008.
He also conducted the closing concert of Tlemcen, the Capital of Islamic Culture in 2011, and the closing concert of the Oran Arab Film Festival in 2012. He participated in the Carthage Festival in 2016.
In August 2018, he was invited as an honorary guest to the International Meeting of Orchestra Conductors in Huelva, Spain, with the participation of more than 150 orchestra conductors from 40 countries. He supervised some orchestra conducting students and participated in conducting the closing concert.
He was invited to conduct the Arab Youth Philharmonic Orchestra in Egypt and performed concerts with them at the Alexandria Opera House and the Republic Theater in Cairo in 2022.
During his artistic career, he presented for the first time in the world many works by contemporary Syrian and foreign composers such as Zaid Jabri, Marta Jitluchy, Anna Ciara Jidda, Marcus Fernandez, and Edin Samimi.
He provided artistic consultancy services for many music projects and cultural institutions in Syria and abroad, in addition to his work as an artistic coordinator for the “Tomorrow is Ours” project organized by the Governorate of Damascus.
In 2009, the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano, awarded him the “Italian Solidarity Star” medal with the rank of Commander in recognition of his efforts and contributions to promoting cooperation between Syria and Italy in the field of music and his achievements in this field.
- He received the Ministry of Culture Medal for the Republic of Armenia in 2010 for his efforts and work in the cultural field.
- In 2020, he was awarded the Encouragement State Prize in Syria, and in 2023, he was honored with the “Bravo” award at the prestigious Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, in addition to several honorary shields from Syrian and foreign institutions and associations.
In June 2019, he obtained a “Master in Performing Arts Management” certificate from La Scala Academy and the Polytechnic University in Milan, Italy.
He participated in a solo tour with the Damascus Soloists in 2023 to perform Syriac music at the Assad House of Culture and Arts in Damascus, the Rachmaninoff Theater at the Tchaikovsky Music Institute in Moscow, and the Eurasia Theater in Novosibirsk.
