Farah Siraj was born in 1983 in Amman, Jordan. She grew up in Jordan in an environment rich in Middle Eastern music. At the age of three she began studying classical piano and music theory. Her first solo presentation was at the age of four when she played at the Royal Cultural Center, Amman.
By the age of sixteen, Farah was known as one of Jordan’s youngest composers. After her early years in Jordan, Farah moved to Spain with her family.
She continued her musical education attending Trinity College of Music, London, where she received a diploma in Music Composition and then graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston (USA), where she was much-admired for her lush Arabic vocals.
Farah sings in Arabic, Spanish and English and has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious venues.
Her internationally-distributed albums include “Nomad” and “Dunya”. In Nomad, Farah fused Arabic music, flamenco, jazz, bossa nova and pop, including more than 30 internationally renowned musicians from around the world.
Dunya (world in Arabic and Hindi) included her diverse quintet of Arabic Flamenco Jazz, with world class musicians from the Middle East, Europe, the United States and South America.
During her tour of India, Farah shared the stage with India’s renowned composer, A.R. Rahman, performing Zariya live on MTV. The song reached #1 in the music charts in India, and reverberated across South Asia and the Middle East.
As a humanitarian, Farah focuses on building awareness about the effects of war and violence, and supports women’s rights, refugee rights and animal rights. In recognition of her humanitarian efforts, Farah was invited to perform at the United Nations Humanitarian Awards.
In 2020, Farah presented the song “Calma” (Calness) in collaboration with German composer and guitarist Andreas Arnold and American-Lebanese handpan pioneer Adam Maalouf. The song, written and performed in Spanish, speaks to the need for inner peace in a troubled era of information overload, political anxiety, and COVID-19 stress.
“The inspiration for the song came to me amidst the noisy craze of New York City and at a moment when I felt overwhelmed,” said Andreas. “Not only personally, but also by a sort of global distress. Out of nowhere, the spontaneous visualization of being alone at the beach in El Palmar in Andalusia, Spain quenched my thirst for calm, which then became the central theme of the song.”
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Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.