Music

Marcin Patrzałek: Proving His Guitar Genius Is No Trick

Traditionally, artists take to the stage to connect with their audience. For Marcin Patrzałek, a Polish guitar prodigy, there’s an added drive: to prove that his jaw-dropping technique, which has garnered tens of millions of views on Instagram, is no trick. “It bothers me a bit that people think it’s fake (...) but it’s good that it gets ...

Mansour Rahbani, a century later...

They were two—two distinct minds, two creators, two independent intellectuals. Yet an artistic symbiosis united them, rendering their names inseparable: the Rahbani Brothers. Composers, poets, and thinkers, they merged their visions without overshadowing one another. Assi and Mansour—one could not exist without the other. The poet gave ...

Queen, Herbie Hancock, and Barbara Hannigan Win 2025 Polar Music Prize

Legendary British rock band Queen, US jazz musician Herbie Hancock and Canadian soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan won Sweden's 2025 Polar Music Prize on Tuesday, the jury said. Queen - formed in 1970 and famous for hits including Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You, and Somebody to Love - was honored for its “distinctive and instantly ...

OLT20: The Official Lebanese Top 20 of the Week

As we approach the spring season, the OLT20 chart has been highly active, with significant movement and a surge of new releases. Among these new entries is this week’s number one song on OLT20 “Girl I Want Your Love” from CMK Beats. Charbel Marcel Karkour, known by his stage name CMK Beats, started producing music electronically on his PC ...

Music at the Service of Children with Disabilities

Inside "the igloo," a transparent net equipped with sensors, Simon and Émile throw fabric balls. When they hit the violin-shaped target, a classical melody plays. Welcome to the music and disability workshop. This one-of-a-kind music room was created in Woippy, near Metz, in northeastern France, for children with all types of disabilities, ...

Al-Bustan Festival: Via Crucis or the Final Prayer

On March 15, at the Saint-Joseph Church of the Jesuit Fathers in Monnot, the al-Bustan Festival dedicated a musical evening to Franz Liszt's Via Crucis, one of the most radical works in his sacred repertoire. Composed between 1878 and 1879, this cycle illustrates the profound aesthetic and spiritual transformation of the Hungarian composer in his ...

Abdel Rahman el-Bacha: Beethovenian in Soul, Chopinian at Heart

There are artists who, driven by a profound desire for sincerity, deliberately choose to step back so that the work, free from any shadow, can shine fully. Abdel Rahman el-Bacha is one of those. His playing seeks neither effect nor emphasis, but the truth of the piece, served with unwavering rigor and unadorned expressiveness. After years of ...

A Posthumous EP by Marianne Faithfull to Be Released in April

An EP featuring four previously unreleased songs by British singer and actress Marianne Faithfull, who passed away in late January, is set to be released in April. The title track will be unveiled this Friday, as announced by her family in a statement. "As we mourn the loss of Marianne, we take comfort in sharing these songs she was working on ...

'La Tragédie de Carmen' at Al-Bustan: The Fire of Passion

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Carmen, the famous opera by Georges Bizet (1838-1875) is once again at the heart of the musical stage, carried by the image of a heroine who both fascinates and unsettles. Far from being the mistress of her fate, Carmen—an exaggerated symbol of female freedom and emancipation—finds herself captive to ...

From Bob Marley to Raye: King Charles III’s Music Playlist

King Charles III is set to share his personal Commonwealth music playlist in an exciting new collaboration with Apple Music. The playlist, which features a diverse mix of genres including reggae, disco, and Afrobeat, will be made available on Monday, March 10, in honor of Commonwealth Day. Among the artists included in the monarch's selections are ...

Roy Ayers, godfather of neo-soul, dead at 84

Roy Ayers, the trailblazer of jazz, funk and neo-soul whose "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" proved a hugely popular hip-hop sample, has died. He was 84 years old. The artist's family shared the news in a Facebook post, saying the vibraphonist, composer and producer died in New York on March 4 following a long illness. "He lived a beautiful 84 ...

Iran’s Brutal Crackdown on Artists: Defiance Comes at a Cost

A famous Iranian pop singer, Mehdi Yarrahi, who created a song urging women to remove their headscarves, declared on Wednesday that he was willing to "pay the price of freedom" after enduring 74 lashes imposed by the authorities as part of his sentence. This punishment was a direct response to his support for the Women. Life. Freedom movement, ...