SANA – Syrian Arab News Agency, Syria
Sept 30 2007
Syrian Arab Musician Sulhi al-Wadi Passes Away
Sunday, September 30, 2007 – 09:05 PM
Damascus, (SANA) – Famous Arab musician Sulhi al-Wadi passed away on
Sunday at the age of 73 at al-Chami hospital.
Sulhi al-Wadi was born in Baghdad in 1934, finishing his primary
school in Damascus then continuing his studies at Victoria Academy in
Alexandria, where he developed his love of music and enrolled at the
Alexandria Conservatoire to study music. In 1953 he was accepted at
the Royal Academy of Music in London where he studied conducting.
After his graduation with honors in 1960, he returned to Damascus to
establish the Arab Music Institute, which opened in 1962.
In 1990, he was appointed dean of the High Institute of Music which
was opened the same year. He formed the Syrian National Symphony in
1993, which he conducted until he fell ill in 2002.
In 1995, Late President Hafez al-Assad awarded Sulhi al-Wadi the
Medal of Merit of excellent degree for his efforts in the promotion
of music in Syria and abroad.
He was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1999 by the Komitas
Conservatoire in Yerevan, Armenia. He was also awarded an honorary
doctorate by the Russian Academy for Sciences and Arts in 2000.
Pope John Paul II also awarded him the Saint Peter and Saint Paul
Medals during his visit to Syria in 2001.
The works of Sulhi al-Wadi included orchestral scores, chamber music,
movie sound tracks and theatrical music. He presented his first opera
in cooperation with London Opera House. He also held concerts in
Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Tunisia, Germany, Spain,
Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom.
H.Sabbagh, Mazen