Firas Andari is a Beirut-based singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator, and actor. Born in Lebanon in 1997, he started singing at age 6. At age 12, he began studying the Levantine musical tradition of muwashahat and qudud with Dr. Hayyaf Yassine. Later he joined Antonine University to study oud playing professionally with Mustafa Said. At Said’s hands, Andari learned a classical repertoire by ear, which Said had learned by ear from the sheikhs in Egypt. This gives Andari access to a music culture that is all but lost: the notation of Arabic music at the beginning of the twentieth century caused it to lose much of the variable microtones that made its richness, simply because western standard notation cannot express the exact intonations in the maqam music.. Andari also learned the traditions carried by each maqam, defining its habitual phrases, melodic development, which had been passed down by oral tradition. For this reason, Andari’s auditory knowledge of this repertoire gives him access to a culture no longer transmitted in conservatories. Far from being conservative in his approach, his musical creation is resolutely innovative. Firmly rooted in the canonical origins of the Maqam music and sourced from its historical repertoire, Andari’s work forges its own contemporary language. In addition to classical maqam music, Firas performs Arabic folk music regularly across Lebanon. As a member of the ASIL Ensemble, he has participated in international festivals such as Shubbak at the Barbican in London and Spoleto in Italy.

Thank you to Brooklyn Maqam for their support in bringing Firas to the US!

Instagram | Spotify