Bassem Rizk was born on April 10, 1979 in Achrafieh, Beirut (Lebanon). The capital was then ravaged by war, and resulted in the forced relocation of his family to Amchit near Byblos, cradle of the Phoenician civilization and the alphabet. Surrounded by a family of artists and largely inspired by the musical passion of his father, who also played this string musical instrument, Bassem was initiated to the rudiments of the oud (Arabic lute), at a very young age. At five-year old, Bassem drew media attention thanks to his exceptional talent and virtuosity playing on the oud, keyboard, and the tabla (percussion instrument).
Viewed as a true musical phenomenon, he was broadcasted on all the regional radio stations. At the age of fifteen, driven by his curiosity to learn more about the oud, he was introduced to the method of the “School of Iraq” tutored by the famous musician Munir Bashir. This great master of music awakened Bassem’s passion to take on in-depth studies in order to fully understand the complexity of the oud, whose origins date back more than 4000 years. During his studies, he returned to the roots of the fundamentals of the oud and studied different works and essays of school famous luminaries, Al-Sharif Mohiedine Haydar, Shouker Selman, and Jamil Munir Bachir.
After his own personal experimentation on the oud, he again attracted the attention of music critics with his performances of “maqam”, a style that demonstrates a great mastery of counterpoint and musical discourse. At the age of twenty, he enrolled at the National Conservatory in Beirut.
Throughout his journey, Bassem deepened his musical culture appreciation through his studies of theories of eastern music. He participated and won the 3rd prize at the prestigious international competition of the Arab League in cooperation with the University of the Holy Spirit at Kaslik – USEK, Lebanon.
Bassem is tenacious in contributing assiduously to the development of different approaches related to the musical oud. Driven by his love for music and this noble instrument, Bassem aims to provide a new tone -, a young, updated and modern musical approach accessible to all.
Through his musical research he has envisioned and developed ways that enable him to break the “wall” between East and West. He has drawn the attention of various directors in the theaters and movies industries for whom he has composed original music to underpin their respective works.
In 2004, he released his first CD entitled “Echoes From A Past” upon containing all exclusively original compositions bear his signature. In 2005, Bassem completed the development of a new oud method, which began to be taught at the EDMGY, (The Ghassan Yammine school of music) in Lebanon.
Bassem currently performs on prestigious musical stages in Lebanon and various European countries. Considered by many critics to the new hope of classical Arabic music, Bassem Rizk is currently one of the pillars of his generation regarding for his knowledge and mastery of the oud.
Track List:
1 - To My Father (إلى أبي (05:21
2 - Hanine (حنين (04:36
3 - Catoons (صور متحركة (01:50
4 - Hijaz Kar (حجاز كار (08:06
5 - Echoes From A Past (صدى من ماض (02:06
6 - Organza (أورغانزا (04:31
7 - Hamasat (Whispers) (همسات (04:40
8 - Story Of Roses (حكاية ورد (02:49
9 - Virtuose (فيرتويوز (03:59
Duration : 33:58 | Bitarte : 192 kBit/s | Year : 2004 | Size : 59 mb
