User:Rimbanna

Rim Banna (ريم بنا, born December 8, 1966) is a Palestinian singer, composer, and arranger and an activist, who is well-known for her modern interpretations of the Palestinian Arab songs. Banna was born in Nazareth, Palestine, where she graduated from Nazareth Baptist School. She currently lives in Nazareth with her three children.

Artistic philosophy
Banna first achieved popularity in the early 1990s, after recording her own songs Palestinian and also children's songs on the verge of being forgotten. Many such songs and rhymes sung by Palestinian Arab families again today, are said to be thanks to Banna's work in preserving them via her recordings.

Rim Banna compose her own songs, and her message is to focus on the Palestinian suffer and injustice occupation, she is resisting the Israeli occupation by her voice which is her weapon against it – music is an important tool for cultural self-assertion: "A part of our work consists of collecting traditional Palestinian texts without melodies. So that the texts do not get lost, we try to compose melodies for them that are modern, yet inspired by traditional Palestinian music."

As such, Banna does not merely mimic the traditional techniques for representation of the pieces she interprets. In her view, "Oriental singing techniques are mostly ornamental… But my voice is more two-dimensional, thicker. I try to write songs that fit my voice. I want to create something new in every respect. And that includes bringing people elsewhere closer to the music and soul of the Palestinians."

In spite of risking three years in prison, she performs in the West Bank. She is banned from Palestine, but reaches audience there through live webcasts. She performed her first concert in Syria on January 8, 2009.

Lullabies from the Axis of Evil
Banna's popularity in Europe began after Norwegian music producer Erik Hillestad invited her to participate on the CD Lullabies from the Axis of Evil (2003) and Norwegian singer Kari Bremnes, who also took part on this production in a duet with Rim Banna, invited her to Oslo. Banna accepted the invitation, and the two artists did a show together.

The album, dubbed "a musical antiwar message to U.S. President Bush from female singers in Palestine, Iraq, Iran, and Norway," the album brings these women together with others from North Korea, Syria, Cuba, and Afghanistan – to sing traditional lullabies from their lands in duet form with English-language performers whose translation allows the songs to reach a Western audience.

Mirror of My Soul
The Mirrors of My Soul, which was dedicated to all the Palestinian and Arab political detainees in the Israeli prisons, the album is a stylistic departure from her previous body of work. Produced in cooperation with a Norwegean quintet, it features "Western pop styling" fused with Middle Eastern modal and vocal structures, and Arabic lyrics. Though the style of this album differs from previous recordings, the subject matter has basically remained constant. The album includes "songs of despair and hope" about the lives of "a struggling people, and even a song about late president Arafat in a way that is both thoughtful and subtle".

Discography

 * Jafra (1985)
 * your tears Mother (1986)
 * The Dream (1993)
 * New Moon (1995)
 * Mukaghat (1996)
 * Al Quds Everlasting (2002)
 * Krybberom (2003) Rim Banna & SKRUK
 * Lullabies from the Axis of Evil (2003 – Various female artists)
 * The Mirrors of My Soul (2005, Valley Entertainment )
 * This was not my story (2006) Rim Banna & Henrik Koitz
 * Seasons of violet (2007)
 * Songs across Walls of Separation (2008 – Various artists from the Middle East, Africa, Central America, North America, and Europe)
 * April Blossoms (2009) an album for children, was dedicated to the children martyrs in Gaza
 * A Time to cry (2010), was recorded in one of Sheikh Jarrah's houses which is under a constant threat to be evicted from the part of their house (with 3 Palestinian singers)
 * "Tomorrow" (Bokra) 2011, a single song of the American legend composer Quincy Jones, who chose Rim Banna to represent Palestine in this project which will be released in an Album and a video clip in September 2011