Moslem Rahal

Moslem Rahal (in Arabic: مسلم رحَّال [muslm rħːaːl], September 10, 1977) is a Syrian musician known for his expertise as a ney player and composer. With a career spanning both Western and Middle Eastern musical traditions, Rahal has garnered acclaim for his collaborations with singers, orchestras, and bands. He also conducted scholarly research at universities and crafting the oriental instruments, ney and kawala maker since 1991.

Moslem Rahal
Background information
Born	(1977-09-10) September 10, 1977 'Latakia, Syria'.
Genres	Classical, western early music jazz, western Middle Eastern music
Occupation(s)	Ney player, composer, ney luthier,
Instrument(s)	Ney
Years active	1993-present

Alongside his competence in classical orchestral and traditional music, Rahal's contribution to music lies in his innovative skill to interpret western music like  jazz and rock and roll using oriental instruments. His ability to blend these genres shows his versatility and influence in the music industry.

Early life

Rahal was born in Latakia, Syria, in 1977, into a family of artists. The son of a poet and the brother of musicians, from childhood Moslem developed a passion for the percussion and string instruments played by his brothers, although his own chosen instrument is an end-blown reed instrument, the ney. Faced with the difficulty of acquiring a good quality ney, at the age of 14 he set about researching the craftsmanship of the instrument. He soon gained recognition as both a ney maker and player in Lattakia. Today he is one of the leading experts in the instrument.

Musical education

Rahal began his formal musical training at the Teachers Training Institute, Music Department in Lattakia (1995-1997). He subsequently pursued advanced studies at the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus (1998-2003), graduating and specializing in the ney. During this period, Rahal also began teaching the ney at the institute. His skills as a soloist were recognized early on, leading to his prominent role as a soloist with the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra.

Work and Contribution

Classical

Moslem Rahal was chosen by national orchestras and westren artists With reference to his expertise of playing the ney in a classical setting, thanks to his background in studying Western music and his contributions to the Syrian orchestra. His advanced studies in the field and the choice of an oriental instrument added a distinctive touch to the orchestra.

Orchestra Symphony

Moslem Rahal has performed extensively with symphonies, focusing on pieces that highlight the ney's role within orchestral settings. His repertoire includes concertos, sonatas, and traditional dances, specifically orchestrated to demonstrate the ney's unique capabilities in complementing orchestral arrangements. Rahal's contributions in these performances emphasize his commitment to expanding the ney's presence and appreciation within both Eastern and Western musical contexts.

• Syrian National Symphony Orchestra:
• Concert performances in Italy, Germany, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Algeria under the conduction of Maestro Missak Baghboudarian from 2002 to 2021 incuded the Ney concerto, Song from al furat- by shafi badereddine, and The ecstasy of victory- Abdel Salam Safar and more
• concerts in Syria, Irak and Lebanon under the conduction of Solhi al-Wadi. where he played azerbaijani, arabic and syrian pieces from1998 to 2002
• Algerian National Symphony Orchestra

With Missak Baghboudarian as conductor

Lunch of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra

With Amin Qwaider as conductor

• Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra : Performed  the Arabian Concerto by Marcel Khalife and With Lorin Maazel as conductor (Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.; La Scala, Italy; Champs-Élysées, Paris; Royal Albert Hall, London; Qatar, including the orchestra's launch and 10th anniversary).
• Pacific Symphony Orchestra: Los Angeles concerto.
• Osnabrücker Symphonieorchester:  Album Shourouk

Preforming Raqsa with Chamber Orchestra

• Morgenland Chamber Orchestra and Morgenland orchestra (Germany):  concerts and he performed a piece he created and composed named "Raqsa” on maqam Bayat Sol
• Euterpe Project: Collaborations with Orchestra Ciudad de Almería (Spain), Orchestra Maderne (Forlì, Italy) and Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra.

Western

Medieval Folk, Baroque, and Ancient Music

• Jordi savall: with whom he collaborated on numerous recordings, albums, and concerts
• Jean-Christophe Frisch:  “Pellegrino. Il Viaggio di Pietro della Valle”
• Hespèrion XXI:  under the conduction of Maestro Jordi Savall more than 150 concerts since 2012.

Jazz

Entering jazz was a challenge for an instrument with only 7 holes and no chromatic scale but the ney blended seamlessly with jazz music. This success led to annual invitations to Germany, Denmark, and other countries for the past 20 years and has been involved in Oriental jazz, participating in tours around the UAE with Ziad Rahbani and engaging in collaborations for his album.

• Among the collaborations in jazz:
• NDR germany: Ney concerto
• Blood, sweat drum + bass Denmark
• All star band morgenland germany 2004-2024 (20 years)
• Meschiya Lake album
• Oriental jazz with ziad rahbany
• Music matbakh + rap + rock
• Syrian jazz Orchestra 2006-2010
• African express
• Syrian big band [1]

Rock and roll

After the war in Syria, many musicians ventured into different sectors, and Moslem was one of them. He was invited to play in genres far from his instrument's origin, such as rock and roll and rap, at festivals and projects around the world with notable figures like Damon Albarn.

• Gorillaz Damon Albarn: performed in his concerts with The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians
• African express rock roll,  jazz,  rap:

Middle east

Being in a region where traditional music was prevalent and coming from a family of musicians, Rahal had a sophisticated knowledge and background in traditional Arabic music and muwashahat al-Andalus. Since he joined the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus he has been a member of the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music as a ney soloist under the conduction of Maestro Issam Rafea. This orchestra performed a large number of muwashahat and traditional Arabic music for 14 years, touring around the Middle East. Additionally, his role as a professor at The Higher Institute of Music in Damascus, teaching the ney instrument and the oriental maqam, allowed him to meet professionals from Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia, and India, where they exchanged expertise in workshops.

At the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus , both when he was a student and later as a teacher, They studied diffrent type of music such as Arabic, Azerbaijani , Persian, Turkish, Kurdish, North Syriac, and Turkmen music. Along with Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music, He toured the Middle East and Turkey, performing Azerbaijani, Turkish, and Syriac pieces. And he also performed with the Istanbul Orchestra.

Notable figures

Middle East

• Fairuz: concerts and the play Sah al-Nawm 2008
• Ziad Rahbani: concerts and  a tour for the album da capo
• Marcel Khalife: qatar Philharmonic orchestra and Al Mayadine Ensemble worldwide ( over 15 years)
• Wadih El Safi: ibn al insan festival lebanon, christmas festival in syria, and concerts for 5 years
• Alim Qasimov concerts in egypt, osnabruck

West

• Jordi Savall: from 2012 until the present day, participating in over 200 concerts with various orchestras. He also served as a music researcher for 5 years and as the artistic director in his Orpheus project.
• Maria del Mar Bonet: with her he performed in barcelona, girona, madrid, aleppo, damascus and cairo with his Shams Ensemble and he performed at the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the death of the philosopher Ramon Llull.
• Damon Albarn
• Lorin Maazel 6 concert with the qatar philharmonic orchestra

Compositions and albums

• Album “Ney in quarantine days” 2021

With Jordi Savall

• Album “ORIENTE LUX” (Alia Vox 2023)  
• Album  “Orient-Occident II” (Alia Vox 2013)
• Album “Bal·Kan” (Alia vox 2013)
• Album “Ibn Battuta” (Alia Vox 2015)
• Album “ESPRIT DES BALKANS” (Alia Vox 2012)
• Gazal. Performed by Hespérion XXI on the CD “Orient Occident 2” (Alia Vox 2013)

With Maria del Mar Bonet

• Album  “Amic et Amat” (PICAP 2004)

With Jean Christophe Frisch:

• Album “Pellegrino. Il Viaggio di Pietro della Valle” (Arion 2006)

With “Blood, sweat, drum + bass”:

• Album “In the spirit of...” (Blood Sweat Media 2006)

With NDR Big Band:

• Album  “Shouruk” (Dreier Gaido 2011)
• Album “Sherine” (Dreier Gaido 2014)
• Album “ On The Road To Damascus” 2012

With Morgenland Allstar Band:

• Album “Dastar” (Dreier Gaido 2014) 

With Meschiya Lake:

• Album “lungs”  (Stunt Records/ Sundance Music 2019)

With ziad rahbany:

• Album  “Da cap” 2005

Morgenland Chamber Orchestra:  Raqsa byat Sol

With Waed Bouhassoun

• Album “La voix de la passion” (Buda musique 2016)

Founder

Nawa Group

Nawa group was founded in 2007, relying on five principal musicians attempting to play Rahal's compositions and compositions from Syrian heritage along with original compositions inspired by this heritage using Eastern instruments and a distinctive presentation style.

Shams ensemble

A group of Syrian musicians, founded by Moslem Rahal at the request of Maria del Mar Bonet, came together to play Andalusian music that fused elements from Spain, Morocco, and Damascus. They performed concerts and recorded an album.

Projects

Orpheus XXI

Rahal was the founding instructor-performers for 6 groups out of 7 (Norway 1g, Germany 2g, Belgium 1g, Spain 1g, France1g) of the project "Orpheus XXI – Music for life and dignity,"  a program led by Catalan musician Jordi Savall to support refugees in Europe with traditional music training. The program was funded by the European Commission as part of the Creative Europe Programme on 29 September 2016. It provides employment for refugee musicians and teaches refugee children traditional music from their countries of origin, allowing for the preservation of cultural heritage and personal growth for the participants.

Euterpe: Solist

Gloomos Camp: Solist

Music Matbakh: Solist and composed Gourpa with them

Remix Asia: Solist and composer in  a creative encounter for musicians from Arab countries and Central Asia. It gives them the opportunity to combine and experiment with diverse music traditions from both regions where they share old traditions and culture.

Honors and Judgments in Musical Events

Rahal served as a judge at Tunisia Carthage Musical Days event and participated as an honorable guest in a concert for ney players there.  where he got honored as a jury for the Carthage Musical Days event with a “Ziryab Honorary Award"

And judged the development of the ney instrument in The Arab Music Conference in Algeria 2007

He was invited to participate in the International Ney Forum for cultural exchange at the jarash festival in jordan

Teaching and Research

Teaching

Rahal has taught at several institutions around the world, including the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus. Later, he delivered lectures at the American University of Beirut focused on research topics. In the Netherlands, he conducted workshops at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, where he taught European students on the origins, methods, and ertijaal of Arabian music, culminating in a concert performance . Additionally, he was a guest lecturer at the Malmö Academy of Music in Sweden in 2013, covering Arab music theory, ensemble, and main instrument studies. His guest lecturer role extended from 2010 to 2021 at the Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Denmark.

Research

He delivered lectures at the American University of Beirut in the Physics Department, focusing on experiments in vocal physics and a study of the ney from a physic perspective. This work involved a two-year collaboration with Dr.Jehad Toma and engaged students from the Physics Department in topics such as the acoustics of the ney, sound experiments, ney fabrication, and the effects of reeds on the ney. His research also explored the effects of wind speed on unloaded objects and sound production. Additionally, he authored a chapter on the ney in Viktor Babenko's music dictionary book in Russian. As a musician, researcher, and soloist, he worked in the Fundació Centre Internacional de Música Antiga in Spain.