Issa Boulos

Issa Boulos (born 1968) is a Palestinian-American Oud player, composer, lyricist, researcher and educator. Born in Jerusalem into a Christian family known for both music and literary traditions, his talent became evident at an early age, and was singing Arab classical maqam repertoire by age 7. He enrolled in the Institute of Fine Arts in Ramallah at age 13 and studied Oud with Abu Raw`hi 'Ibaidu.

Background
Ud player, composer, ethnomusicologist, and teacher Issa Boulos was born in Jerusalem, in 1968. Issa Boulos comes from a family of both musical and literary traditions and began to study voice at the age of 7. At that early age, Issa showed extraordinary talent in singing the Arab classical maqam repertoire. At the age of 13, he entered the Institute of Fine Arts in Ramallah to study the ‘ud with Abd al-Hamid ‘Ibaidu. His musical activities started during the mid-1980s through acting as an arranger and performer with local folk and contemporary groups. In 1986, he released Al-‘Ashiq with Sareyyet Ramallah Troupe for Music and Dance, followed by Rasif Al-Madinah in 1989 with composer/singer Jamil Al-Sayih. By the early 1990s, Issa was exploring Western music's principles of composition and orchestration, of which he incorporated various aspects into his own music. Those early years witnessed the composition of over 200 instrumental and vocal pieces and one large-scale extended work entitled Kawkab Akhar (Another Planet). Subsequently, he was appointed director of Birzeit University's musical group Sanabil.

In the 1980s and 1990s Boulos broadened his artistic perspectives by splitting his time between Ramallah and Chicago. Eventually, he settled in Chicago in 1994 and enrolled in the music composition program at Columbia College Chicago where he studied music composition with Gustavo Leone and Athanasios Zervas and followed that up in the graduate program at Roosevelt University with Robert Lombardo and Ilya Levinson. He founded the Issa Boulos Ensemble in 1998 while continuing to perform his original contemporary compositions that ranged from maqam compositions, chamber, orchestral, to jazz. After completing his Master's degree in 2000, Boulos spent one year in his hometown, where he continued to be an active composer, educator, and 'udist. During that year, he took on the position of instructor of Western music theory and history, 'ud, chorus, ensemble, and theory of Arab music at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, Ramallah[8]. It was during this time that he established the Little Composer program, an educational program that is delivered through the medium of music. It is based on contemporary approaches used to encourage children to work as a team and as part of a larger group and write their own lyrics and set them to music.

Boulos's portfolio includes traditional Arab compositions and arrangements, jazz, and film and theater scores, notably those for Lysistrata 2000, Catharsis and the PBS documentary film The New Americans[19], and Nice Bombs[20]. In most of his orchestral compositions, Boulos incorporates the melodic material of maqam and some of the instruments associated with it such as the ‘ud, buzuq, baglama, qanun, nay, Turkish clarinet, santoor, and traditional percussion instruments. It was upon these achievements that he was commissioned to write original orchestral works for various renowned orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra[21]. He is a recipient of many awards and fellowships including the 2006 and 2003 Artist Fellowship Award by the Illinois Arts Council, and the Norwegian Fund Award in 2006, the Palestinian Cultural Fund Award in 2006, the Arab Cultural Fund Award in 2010, and the A. J. Racy Fellowship for Ethnomusicological Music Studies	in 2013. He obtained his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Leiden University in 2020.

Notable works

 * 2010-2013       Streets 1, Streets 2, for orchestra, commission by the Palestine National Orchestra; performed in Syria, Palestine, Serbia, Austria, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Romania, Tunisia & Egypt.
 * 2008       A Jerusalemite Love Song, for voice and orchestra; performed by The Palestine-Berlin Youth Orchestra in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria & Egypt.
 * 2008       Raqs al-Janub, Manfa, for orchestra and qanun; performed by Euro Med Youth Orchestra in Syria, Palestine, Serbia, Austria, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Romania, Tunisia & Egypt.
 * 2007       Manfa and Longa, for orchestra and qanun; performed by The Palestine-Berlin Youth Orchestra.
 * 2006       Four orchestral pieces with mixed world music ensemble commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO); performed by the CSO in Chicago, & by other orchestras in Greece, Syria & Jordan.
 * 2005        Nice Bombs, original music for independent documentary.
 * 2003        New Americans, original music for PBS documentary.
 * 2000        Shortly After Life, for orchestra.
 * 2000        Tao, for violin & harp.
 * 1999       Samar, twenty jazz pieces for, ‘ud, tambourine, guitar and clarinet.
 * 1998       Sama, six pieces for string quartet & harp.
 * 1998        Pastiche, for chamber orchestra.
 * 1995        Naji, for piano and cello.
 * 1993       Another Planet, original instrumental compositions.
 * 1989       Side Street, original songs.
 * 1986        al-Ashiq, Palestinian folk songs.

Discography

 * 2019        Bonfire, original instrumental and vocal works for chamber mixed orchestra, Chicago.
 * 2011        Little Composers, arranged children songs. Nawa Records, Jerusalem.
 * 2010        Sunny and Breezy, original instrumental works. Nawa Records, Jerusalem.
 * 2009        Being Peace, original songs. Nawa Records, Chicago.
 * 2008        Meme Enchanted, arranged traditional songs for full ensemble. U of C, Chicago.
 * 2008        Al-‘Hallaj, eight original songs for mixed Ensemble. Nawa Records, Chicago.
 * 2007        Rif, original compositions for Turkish kemence. Nawa Records, Chicago.
 * 2003        One World, One Language, original composition for Lingua Musica, Chicago.
 * 1989        Side Street, original songs, Jerusalem.
 * 1986        Al-‘Ashiq, Palestinian folk.

Notable recordings as significant ensemble member

 * 2004       Boonie Ba-Boona, Assyrian Market Records, Chicago.
 * 2002       Il y a un pays Palestine, Musique du monde, France.
 * 2002       Ida y Vuelta. Flamenco, Sweet Pickle Music, Chicago.
 * 2002       Songs for Swinging Sophisticates, Jazz, Sideways Entertainment, Chicago.

Notable radio and television appearances

 * 2013   WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio, Worldview[9].
 * 2010    BBC Oxford / interview and presentation.
 * 2009    BBC Oxford / interview and presentation.
 * 2009    Monte Carlo Paris / interview and presentation.
 * 2008    NPR, National Public Radio / interview and presentation.
 * 2007   WLUW, Loyola's Radio Station, with Peter Margasak / review.
 * 2007   WLUW, Loyola's Radio Station / Chicago World Music Festival.
 * 2006   WLUW, Loyola's Radio Station / Arab Heritage Month[23].
 * 2006   NPR, Prairie Home Companion (Garrison Keillor), interview and presentation[24].
 * 2006    WTTW, Metromix, interview / Chicago World Music Festival.
 * 2005   CBS, interview and presentation / Chicago Jazz Festival.
 * 2004   ABC Chicago Radio, interview and presentation / Love Songs of the World.
 * 2003    CLTV, Global Connections, Exploring the ‘Ud.
 * 2001    Monte Carlo Ramallah / interview and presentation.