Moustafa Farroukh (in Arabic مصطفى فروخ) (born 1901 - died 1957) was one of Lebanon's most prominent painters of the 20th century. During his famed career, Farroukh produced over 2000 paintings most of which were acquired by collectors both in Lebanon and abroad. He also wrote five books including a biography.

Career[link]

He was formally trained in Rome and graduated in 1927 from Rome's Royal College of Fine Arts. He proceeded to Paris and continued further studies under the guidance of Paul Émile Chabas, the president of the Society of French Artists and many other French artists.

Over his prosperous career, he exhibited in venues from Paris, Venice, New York and Beirut. In his Studio in Beirut, he established a permanent exhibition of his artwork in 1932.

His work was applauded for its representation of real life in Lebanon in pictures of the country, its people and its customs. He travelled through Spain in the early 1930s where his appreciation of Arabic art and architecture had a long lasting effect on his artistic touch. He produced several paintings representing the Arab legacy in Spain.

Farroukh became highly regarded as a Lebanese national painter at a time when Lebanon was asserting its political independence. His art captured the spirit and character of the Lebanese people and he became recognized as the outstanding Lebanese painter of his generation. Most of his paintings were portraits, landmarks, or scenery from his homeland Lebanon. In 1950, as a tribute to his work, Farroukh's name was chosen for listing in Benezit, the world's renowned collection for bibliographical art reference.

Farroukh also wrote five books and taught art at the American University of Beirut and lectured in various academies. He joined the group of philosophers, thinkers, and men and women of literature who lectured in the renowned "Al Nadwa" gatherings or "Le Cénacle Libanais".

In 1954, he was awarded the "Order of Merit", and the "Order of the Cedar" by the Lebanese government.

In 1974, he was portrayed on a Lebanese airmail postage stamp in recognition of his work.

Sources[link]

• [1]

External links[link]

• M. Farroukh Museum

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Toufic Farroukh (Arabic: توفيق فرّوخ‎) is a Lebanese Jazz composer.

Overview[link]

Toufic Farroukh is a saxophone player and composer of jazz with a middle-eastern flavour^[1] stemming from his bi-cultural roots in Lebanon and France.

His brother was a saxophone player and he’s the one who guided him to this instrument and taught him its ABCs. He was an amateur who instilled in Toufic the love of professionalism. They had discovered the saxophone in the Boy Scouts. The instrument was strange to their environment; unconventional, and used only for certain occasions.

Farroukh moved from Beirut to Paris, where he studied music in the conservatory and in the Advanced College of Music, saxophone was his principal instrument. He did not study jazz and its roots at all, nor played jazz on the saxophone.

His first album “Ali on Broadway” (1994), received good press from the specialist magazines^{[citation needed]}, but only touched the French public in small measure. In his second album “Little Secrets” (1998), the flavour and colour of the Orient make their appearance here and there, in amongst the jazz motifs.

Albums[link]

• Ali on Broadway (1994)
• Little Secrets (1998)
• Drab Zeen (2002)
• Ali on Broadway / The other Mix (2004)
• Tootya (2007)
• Cinema Beirut (2011)

Original Soundracks[link]

• Falafel (2006)
• Women Beyond Borders (2004)
• Terra incognita (2002)
• Tabaki (2001)
• Phantom Beirut (1998) ... aka Beyrouth fantôme (France)
• Ana El Awan (1994)

References[link]

External links[link]

• touficfarroukh.com Toufic Farrouh official web site
• Toufic Farroukh MySpace Page

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John Berberian (b. c.1941) is an American musician known for his virtuosity on the oud, the Middle Eastern stringed instrument.

Berberian was born in New York City; his parents were Armenian immigrants. His father was an accomplished oud player, as well as instrument maker, and oud masters of Armenian, Turkish, Arabic and Greek heritage frequented his family's home.

He first recorded traditional oud music with violinist Reuben Sarkisian, when a student at Columbia University in the mid 1950s. He subsequently recorded for a variety of labels including MGM, RCA, Roulette, Verve and Mainstream Records.

He expanded beyond the ethnic music market in the mid to late 1960s, decades before "world music" became fashionable, with a series of LPs which explored fusions between traditional Middle Eastern music, psychedelic rock and jazz. These included "Expressions East" (1964), "Music of the Middle East" (1966), and "Middle Eastern Rock" (1969) with guitarist Joe Beck.

Berberian has commanded the respect of musicians worldwide. He has been featured in numerous concerts and dances throughout the USA, Canada and South America, and is one of only a handful of musicians worldwide given the title of Udi (oud master). He now lives in Massachusetts and maintains an active performance schedule.

External links[link]

• Website
• 2006 performance video