Farīd al-Aṭrash

Biography

Farid al-Atrash was a singer, composer, actor and oud player from al-Qurayya in Suwayda.

He moved to Egypt as a child with his mother, Fuad and Asmahan. The encyclopedia places private radio, the Oriental Music Club and Badia Masabni in his early career, names Riyad al-Sunbati as an oud teacher, and describes the musical gatherings at his family home and his use of orchestration. In memoir passages reproduced by Ahmad Amin Arafat, he recalls his mother Aliya al-Mundhir singing and playing oud, then the Greek Catholic patriarchal school and music institute. He describes cloth-shop work and playing with Ibrahim Hamuda’s troupe, followed by a weekly oud radio contract with Medhat Asim before his singing audition. Al-Araby’s music-history account identifies Farid Ghosn as his teacher and describes a trio with Ghosn and Medhat Asim, followed by work with Aziz Sadiq and Ali Ismail. It connects his singing with solo oud and introductory taqasim.