Lebanese musician Rima Khcheich is set to hold a concert on 26 August at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s Open Air Theatre as part of the ongoing 14th annual International Summer Festival.
An inimitable voice, Khcheich has secured a huge fan base in the Arab world with her brilliant amalgamation of turath (Arabic heritage) and western music, including jazz melodies. Besides revisiting the Arab music library, Khcheich has also performed new compositions.
Born in 1974 in the village of Al-Khiam, in south Lebanon, Khcheich grew up in a home “where music was associated with passion,” she told Ahram Online in an interview conducted in October 2015.
“My parents were of great support. My father who was a qanun player encouraged me and took me to the [Layali Lubnan (Nights of Lebanon)] TV talents show, and then to the children’s choir led by Salim Sahab, which I joined at the age of nine.”
Khcheich’s upbringing in traditional Arabic music, during which she became acquainted with the music of Oum Kalthoum, Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, Wadie El-Safi, Zakariyya Ahmed and Mohamed Fawzy, led her to join the Beirut Oriental Troupe for Arabic Music, also with Sahab, where she performed as a soloist for 17 years.
In parallel to her budding music career, Khcheich joined the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music where she acquired a diploma in oriental singing.
