CRAZY OPERA
July 24, 2013 - 9:30 pm

Samar Salamé explodes in an opera show like never before, combining arias, dance, stage show, fusion of classical and oriental orchestras and chorus, moving the audience into a euphoric atmosphere. Samar will be joined by Tony Abou Jaoudeh, Ziyad Sahhab on Oud, the Choir of the Antonine University, Orchestra Conductor F.Toufic Maatouk, Stage Director Jean Sakr, and a troupe of talented Lebanese dancers.

Samar Salamé explodes in an opera show like never before, combining arias, dance, stage show, fusion of classical and oriental orchestras and chorus, moving the audience into a euphoric atmosphere. Samar will be joined by Tony Abou Jaoudeh, Ziyad Sahhab on Oud, the Choir of the Antonine University, Orchestra Conductor F.Toufic Maatouk, Stage Director Jean Sakr, and a troupe of talented Lebanese dancers.

Samar Salamé was born in Beirut, Lebanon, where she lived until she finished her Audio-Visual education at the University of St. Joseph. While pursuing her degree, she started her singing and music lessons at the Lebanese National Conservatory.
After completing her studies she relocated to Naples, Italy, where she joined the Neapolitan Company Media Aetas, singing and acting for a year throughout Italy in the show L’Opera Buffa Del Giovedi Santo, of Maestro Roberto De Simone.
At the conclusion of the tour, she joined the National Conservatory of Rome, Santa Cecilia, where she received her singing diploma in 2006. During her studies in Rome, Samar gained valuable experience participating in various works such as Trovatore of Guiseppe Verdi, Semiramide of Voltaire, Requiem alla Memoria di Pier Paolo Pasolini (Munich) of the same Maestro Roberto De Simone. She also ranked finalist in the Competition of Mattia Battistini of Rieti, sang in the Choir of Stefano Cucci collaborating with Maestro Ennio Morricone, and performed in various concerts as a soloist.
After spending 6 years in Italy, Samar moved to Paris, France in 2006, where she still resides performing in various venues and countries. In Paris, her performances include La Maya, adaptation of Caprices de Marianne of Alfred de Musset, and concerts at the Grand Palais, Concièrgerie, La Mairie du XIVème, and UNESCO.
In London she performed 2 concerts and in Lebanon her performances include Gloria of Vivaldi, Messe of Mozart, concerts at the French and Italian Embassies, in the “Grotto of Jeita”, Stabat Mater of Pergolesi, the role of Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro in the Byblos International Festival, the 4th Symphony of Mahler at the Al-Bustan Festival, and repeated multiple years performances at the Festival of Sourat, Christmas Festival of Beirut Chants, and at The National Lebanese Museum for the Association APSAD, the St. John’s Passion of J.S. Bach with AUB.
She also created and performed the shows Les Mystères Lyriques in Paris and at the Byblos International Festival, Lebanon, and Promenades Lyriques in Beirut, Lebanon. Samar also sang the Panis Angelicus during the historic Pope Mass in Lebanon in September, 2012.
Currently she is preparing for her upcoming performances in multiple cities in the United States, Paris, London and Beirut.

Tony Abou Jaoudeh is a multi-talented artist who can easily combine between acting, impersonations and singing. He studied Fine Arts at ALBA University but his passion for acting and music led him to a different career. He can sing, with great ease, many genres of music with different voices and techniques. He was introduced to Opera at a very young age when he heard excerpts of Le nozze di Figaro in “Tom & Jerry” cartoons. Ever since, he has developed a passion for this art form that has led him to learn more about this magnificent kind of music by listening to arias by the great masters such as Pavarotti, Domingo, Carreras and others.

His guest appearance in Crazy Opera at the Byblos Festival will mark his first appearance as an Opera singer since his remarkable performance on the final of the TV show “Celebrity Duets”.

Jean Sakr was born in 1985 and raised in Lebanon. Since the age of 12, his training has been extensive. Along with traditional training in ballet jazz and Jazz, he has also studied Hip-hop, oriental Lebanese folklore and modern dance. He also worked as a choreographer for music videos with many artists in Lebanon, including “Coca-Cola Mondial music video” as well as choreographing many events.
Throughout his years in dance, Sakr won the formation competition 8 times as a choreographer/dancer. He recently graduated from George Brown College/Ballet Jörgen Canada.

Born in Beirut, Bass-baritone and conductor Toufic Maatouk began his studies at Beirut National Conservatory and at the Higher Institute of Music in Antonine University. He worked on his doctorate in musicology at the Istituto Pontificio di Musica Sacra in Rome. Later he studied conducting in Italy and Russia with Alexander Polyanichko, Ennio Nicotra, Alexander Polischuk, Marco Berdondini, and Mark Stringer.

As a singer he gave concerts in Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Dubai, London, Montenegro, Vienna, and in the USA. He made his singing debut at the Al-Ain International Festival of classical music in the United Arab Emirates. He performed with the Lebanese National Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Romania Timisora Orchestra, and the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra. Additionally, he appeared at numerous festivals, including Al-Bustan Festival, Byblos Festival, Baalbeck Festival in Lebanon, Al-Ain festival in the UAE, Tbilissi Opera Festival in Georgia and Festival d’Ile de France. Presently he is the artistic director of the Beirut Chants Festival and the director of the Higher Institute of Music at Antonine University.

He has conducted the Orchestra Sinfonica “Roma Sinfonietta” in Italy and the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, Tomsk Philharmonic Orchestra, and Premium Chamber Orchestra of Krasnodar, all in Russia. Upcoming concerts include conducting the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra in May, Orchestra Giovanile Italiana in June in Milan, and at the Festival d’Ile de France in October.
More recently, in April 2013, Maatouk sang in a Midamerica Production of Fauré’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall.

Author, composer and oud player, Ziyad Sahhab is perhaps one of the most emblematic singers/Oud player of the younger generation in Lebanon.

He started playing the oud when he was 7 years old in Lebanon. At the age of 13, he performed solo at the Cairo Opera House at the memorial of Abdel Halim Hafez.
He became a member of the Beirut Arabic music orchestra in 1993. A true master of words, Ziyad Sahhab plays with their meanings and delivers incisive texts depicting society, love and everyday life. His poetry is engraved and marked by a spirit of rebellion that make him a key figure in the Lebanese contemporary Tarab music scene. On top of his own texts, he sings the poems of Egyptian and Lebanese poets such as Ahmad Fouad Najem, Mohamad Kheir, Fuad Haddad and Salah Jaheen. Ziyad uses his intimate knowledge of Classical Arabic music to create his unique and personal signature.