Artists

The young Syrian singer and lute-player, Waed Bouhassoune, has a voice of such quality that is rarely encountered, one of the most famous voices of Arab song of the last thirty years. Her voice immediately brings to mind that of Oum Kalthoum or Asmahan, but even though she was born in the same town as the latter, it can only be Waed’s voice. The experts (samma ï nes ) were not fooled at her first audition in Aleppo , and immediately recognised her talent: symbolically, she was allowed to perform in public in Paris at the Maison des Cultures du Monde and at the Institut du Monde Arabe . Her success was immediate, and she was hailed by the press as ‘a revelation’, the ‘plaudits rained down’, and she was named the ‘mind-boggling Waed’. Returning to Syria , Waed gave a series of concerts, notably at the Damascus Opera. In 2006 she was invited to the Assilah Festival, and the Madinah Festival in Tunis , before touring France .