KARIMA SKALLI (Morocco)

The golden voice of Karima Skalli has recently appeared on the Moroccan music scene. From early childhood – at the tender age of 9 she sang one of Oum Khaltoum’s songs in its entirety for her family – Karima Skalli has been inspired by the great voices of classical Egyptian music. Not only Oum Khaltoum, but also Souad Mohammed, Le ï la Morad, Mohamed Abdelwahab, and especially Asmahane have influenced her growth. Karima Skalli is blessed with a truly virtuoso voice in the classical register that she has mastered so well. She now finds herself in demand with top-rate composers and poets, particularly the great Moroccan lute-player and composer, Sa ï d Chra ï bi, who discovered her, and the eminent poet Abderrafie Jwahri. Both luminaries have composed songs for her of such beauty and depth as to rival the elegance of the music. When she was invited to the Festival de la Goulette in Tunis , Karima Skalli sang compositions by Nasser Shemma, the young Iraqi oud master. In November 1999, Karima was invited to perform at the Cairo Opera accompanied by the Egyptian Philharmonic Orchestra, a high point of her career. There she dedicated the evening’s performance to the Egyptian diva, Asmahane, who remains Karima’s model and inspiration.

LEILA HEJAIEJ (Tunisia)

G rowing up in a family passionate about the arts, Leila Hajaiej developed a refined enthusiasm for music at a young age. She holds degrees from British and American universities and is now Professor of English Literature at the University of Tunis from which she graduated in music.

Apart from her university teaching and research, Leila Hejaiej has a vibrant musical life and is enormously well-known, particularly because of her collaboration with Anouar Ibrahim at the Festival of Tunis, and other cities in Egypt , France and the United States .

Her voice is imbued with an exceptional capacity to interpret the richness and large scale of the music. This ability is appreciated by great musicians and earns the praise of journalists specialising in this genre, both in Tunisia and abroad.

The great Tunisian musicians have inspired Leila to devote herself to her art and develop her talent. In particular, the master Ali Sariti helped to launch her musical career by elucidation of the music and encouraging a perfect interpretation of it.

NASSIMA (Algeria)

Nacéra Chabane, known as Nassima, was born in 1959 in Blida, a small town known as the ‘town of the roses’, some 50 km from Algiers at the foot of the Chrea mountains. In this context, Nassima performs the music of Blida characterised by the çana â , one of the Arabo-Andalusian genres of Algeria .

At the age of 7, Nassima was enrolled in the municipal Conservatory where she studied instrumental technique and voice under the brilliant Dahmane Benachour and his associate for the violin, Hadj Medjbeur. A gifted child, Nassima was able to obtain a place at the prestigious El Widadia musical association, founded in 1932 by the masters Mohamed Khodja and Benguergoura. She also studied midwifery, thus having two careers.

When she became very popular in 1979, she was asked to record an anthology of Arabo-Andalusian music. In 1984 her international career took off. The highlight was the performance of a complete nouba, La Nouba Zidane , accompanied by the Algiers Symphony Orchestra. Between 1987 and 1994, Nassima performed on television to promote the musical heritage of the Maghreb . In 2000, her album Le Nouba Dil was released.

While she excels in the art of nouba, Nassima also promotes the tradition of M’samaâte (female ensembles of the Algiers region), based on the aâroubi, while taking cognisance of the hawzi (a popular genre in Tlemcen).