By Ruba Hattar
Syrian composer Eyad Rimawi premiered his master piece The Syrian Rhapsody on the 7th of February at the Jubilee stage at Expo Dubai 2020.
The show that included a full orchestra, choir and lead singers blew the minds of those attending, presenting them with the amazing spiritual and musical traditions of Syria through Syriac hymns combined with Sufi chants leading up to an operatic climax.
This is the second show Rimawi presents in Dubai recently after Love Letters from Damascus which was performed at Dubai Opera in 2021.
Iyad Rimawi is a Syrian music composer, songwriter, and producer. He started playing the guitar at the age of 12, and by the time he was 14, he was already composing his own songs and music.
He went to the University of Damascus to Study mechanical engineering, and through the years of college, he formed various folk, pop, rock and oriental music bands.
In 1995, he formed the famous pioneering Syrian band “Kulna sawa” with five other members. The band signed with EMI music, and had several hit songs that gained them wide popularity in the Arab world. With Kulna Sawa, Rimawi toured the Middle East, Europe, and the USA, where they received an award for peace after their performance at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Rimawi composed several scores for famous Syrian cinema and television works as well as songs for Syria.
