Ibrahim Maalouf was born November 5, 1980 in Beirut, Lebanon. He left Lebanon as a child and grew up in France.
Maalouf is internationally-renowned composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player. He is a prominent instrumentalist in the French music scene, with a considerable body of work.
When he was merely twenty years old, Ibrahim won several important international classical music competitions and began his career as a classical musician.
In the early 2000s, he made became a noteworthy musician in the pop, jazz, and world music scenes, as confirmed by his high-charting singles and albums. Throughout his career, he has performed for a wide range of artists such as Sting, Salif Keita, Amadou & Mariam, Lhasa de Sela and many more.
Since 2007, Ibrahim has produced, composed, arranged, and recorded numerous albums, composed more than ten classical symphonic works, and created original scores for several films. Ibrahim remains a top-selling instrumentalist in France, Europe, and Middle East, and after performing for more than 1,000 concerts and five world tours, he became the first jazz artist in history to sell out France’s largest concert hall, the AccorHotels Arena in Paris-Bercy.
In addition to setting performance records, Ibrahim won four Victoires de la Musique awards in France; the ECHO Jazz Award in Germany in 2016; was nominated twice for Best Original Music for the César Awards; and won the César Award, along with the Lumières Award for In The Forests of Siberia in 2017.
He was also awarded the honorary titles of Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite and Chevalier des Arts et Lettres by the French government.
In 2019, Ibrahim composed three film soundtracks. He went on a summer tour of France with the Balkan brass band Haïdouti Orkestar before performing at the Olympia (Paris) on 23, 24 and 25 September and touring the rest of Europe from early fall to coincide with the release of his 11th studio album S3NS.
In 2022, Maalouf released an album with Beninese world music star Angelique Kidjo.
Ever-prolific, Maalouf released two albums in 2024, Paris In Love, in July, and Trumpets of Michel-Ange in October. Paris In Love was recorded at his sold-out concert in November 2023 at the Accor Arena, the biggest in France. The three-hour concert for 17,000 fans was a celebration of his greatest hits and GRAMMY-nominated album Capacity To Love, and featured special guests including Austin Brown (Michael Jackson’s nephew), Sheléa, D Smoke, Matthieu Chedid, Benjamin Epps, Sly Johnson, Dear Silas, Flavia Coelho and French hip hop performers IAM and Oxmo Puccino.
Meanwhile, Trumpets Of Michel-Ange celebrates Maalouf’s Lebanese roots and features collaborations with world music and jazz artists. “On a symbolic level, this album is a celebration of love and family and the things that parents pass on to their children,” Maalouf explained “On a more literal level, it’s a chance for me to turn my father’s vision into reality, to share his genius with the world.”
Significantly, Trumpets of Michel Ange is more than just an album; it’s also the name of Maalouf’s new wide-ranging initiative to make the quarter tone trumpet his father invented accessible to players around the world through a line of instruments, lessons, and recordings. Constructed with an additional fourth valve, the quarter tone trumpet enables artists to weave Middle Eastern and Western scales together in previously impossible ways. As a consequence, each of the tracks on Trumpets of Michel Ange was written to be performed on the instrument.
“My father dreamed that one day every player in the world could have their own quarter tone trumpet,” Maalouf recalled. “Now that I’ve built such a large audience with mine, I feel like I can finally help make that dream come true.”
“As a teenager, everyone would give me weird looks when I showed up to competitions with my quarter tone trumpet,” Maalouf clrified, “but then I’d win, and I’d try to explain that the instrument was magic. I’d say, ‘It’s the same as yours, but it has an extra valve that opens up blues and jazz and all kinds of ethnic music from around the world.’”
“I named the album and the instrument line and the new academy we’re starting Trumpets of Michel Ange in honor of my father,” Maalouf added. “When he first came to France, he found shelter and work in one of the oldest churches in Paris, and that’s where he developed his quarter tone trumpet. When I was younger, I used to think of him like Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. This instrument is his masterpiece, and I hope everyone gets to experience it.”
Musicians on Trumpets Of Michel-Ange: Ibrahim Maalouf on solo and ensemble trumpet; Nizar Ali, Yacha Berdah, Yvan Djaouti, Manel Girard on trumpet; Mihai Pîrvan on saxophone; Mohamed Derouich on acoustic guitar; François Delporte on electric guitar; Julien Tekeyan on drums and percussions; Claps and backing vocals: Nizar Ali, Yacha Berdah, Yvan Djaouti, Manel Girard, Mihai Pîrvan, Mohamed Derouich, François Delporte, Julien Tekeyan, Sevan Tekeyan, Hafsatou Saindou, Ibrahim Maalouf.
Discography:
Diasporas (Mi’ster Productions, 2007)
Diachronism (Mi’ster Productions, 2009)
Diagnostic (Mi’ster Productions, 2011)
Wind (Mi’ster Productions, 2012)
Illusions (Mi’ster Productions, 2013)
Yves Saint Laurent, soundtrack (Sony, 2014)
Red & Black Light (Mi’ster Productions, 2015)
Kalthoum (Mi’ster Productions, 2015)
10 ans de live! (Mi’ster Productions, 2016)
Dans Les Forets De Siberie, soundtrack (Mi’ster Productions, 2016)
Dalida (Barclay, 2017)
Levantine Symphony N°1 (Mi’ster Productions, 2018)
S3NS (2019)
Une Belle Équipe, soundtrack (Mi’ster Productions, 2020)
40 Melodies (2020)
First Noel (Mister Ibe, 2021)
Queen of Sheba, with Angelique Kidjo (Mi’ster Productions, 2022)
Capacity To Love (Mi’ster Productions, 2022)
Paris in love (2024)
Trumpets Of Michel-Ange (Mister Ibe, 2024)
[headline image: Ibrahim Maalouf – Photo by Yann Orhan]
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.
Updated biography and discography.