Ibrahim Maalouf

 

 

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Born in 1980 in Beirut, the trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf is currently the most popular instrumentalist of the French musical scene. His work is infamous for its particular fusion of multiple musical genres and has been renowned around the world for more than ten years now.

Filling the Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul, playing sold-out concerts at the Lincoln Jazz Center in New York, and traveling to over 40 countries around the world in the last 10 years, he became the first jazzman in history to fill the largest concert hall in France. Indeed, Ibrahim put on a historic show on 14 December 2016, selling out more than 8 months in advance at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris Bercy.

A few months later, Ibrahim creates a surprise. Described as a "virtuoso" by the New York Times, he performed in an exceptional concert in collaboration with The New Levant Initiative at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC for the world premiere of his album "Levantine Symphony No.1".

Ibrahim is rewarded by 2 "Victoires du Jazz" and 2 "Victoires de la Musique" ("World Music Album" and "Concert or Tour of the Year") which are the first awards for victories in music given to an instrumentalist since their creation more than 33 years ago. Ibrahim has also received an "Echo Jazz" in Germany, a "César for Best Film Music" and a "Prix Lumières" for Best Film Music in 2016. He also received the honorary awards of Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite and Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from the French government.

As a teenager, Ibrahim was at the top of the world's biggest international competitions and began a career as a classical soloist, but from the 2000s onwards, spotted for his ability to colour the music of his improvisations, he became an essential figure in pop, jazz and so-called "World" music. Sting, Salif Keita, Amadou & Mariam, Tryo, Matthieu Chédid, Lhasa de Sela and many other artists of very varied styles call on him.

Between 2007 and 2019, Ibrahim composes, arranges and produces more than 15 albums for himself and other artists. He also composed more than 10 symphonic works as well as a fortnight of feature film music.

Spotted by the legendary producer Quincy Jones during a concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2017, Ibrahim became one of the artists the American producer regularly promoted via the Los Angeles-based Quincy Jones Productions.

In 2019, Ibrahim signs the soundtracks of 3 films including "Celle Que Vous Croyez" by Safy Nebbou with Juliette Binoche, a real international success, then he goes on a summer tour across France with the Balkan band Haïdouti Orkestar.

Ibrahim followed this up with his 11th studio album "S3NS" in September 2019, performing to a sold-out crowd at the Olympia (Paris) on 23, 24 and 25 September and embarking on a world tour.

At the same time Ibrahim has been teaching trumpet and improvisation in conservatories since 1999. He has been invited several times by ITG (International Trumpet Guild) in the United States for concerts and master classes, and has been developing for several years a specific pedagogy for the teaching of classical musical improvisation in French conservatories.

His last pedagogical collaboration dates back to autumn 2019, when all the young students of the association Orchestre à l'École composed of several thousand orchestras across France joined Ibrahim at all his Zenith concerts in order to go on stage for the first time in their lives, and then accompany Ibrahim and his musicians on his composition "Happy Face".

In 2019, Ibrahim will compose, perform and record all the music for the show "Monsieur X" created by Mathilda May and performed by the famous actor and comedian Pierre Richard. Show that will win the Molière for best solo performance of the year 2020.

He also relaunches the Maurice André International Trumpet Competition, for its 7th edition, 14 years after the last competition. First initiated in the ’70s, this competition of international reputation is gathering the best classical trumpeters from all over the world.

In November 2020 Ibrahim has celebrated his 40th birthday and released his new album 40 MELODIES. For the first time in a duet with François Delporte, his guitarist of the last ten years, the album will also feature many other renowned guests (Sting, Marcus Miller, Matthieu Chedid, Alfredo Rodriguez, Richard Bona, Trilok Gurtu, Hüsnü Senlendrici, Jon Batiste, Arturo Sandoval, and others).