The Kurdistan Regional Government’s General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts mourns international Syrian Syriac musician Nuri Iskandar, who passed away on Monday 25 December 2023, at 85 years of age.
The Directorate, in the person of its General Director, its cadres, and its employees, extends its sincere condolences and sympathy to his family and loved ones. We pray to God to give rest to the deceased with his infinite mercy and to grant his family patience and solace.
Nuri Iskandar was a Syrian Syriac musician and composer, best known for his works on Syriac Church music. He was born in Deir ez-Zor in 1938 to a “Rahawi” (Urfalli) family, that was displaced from the city of Edessa (currently Urfa in Turkey) after the Sayfo massacres. They moved to several Syrian cities and ended up in Deir ez-Zor.
Iskandar worked on Eastern music, researching its roots, collecting it, and transferring it from oral heritage to records, especially with regard to Syriac music. He presented many studies, musical works, and research into the Syriac melodies that he recorded.
It is worth noting that the late musician had composed many important works during his artistic career, including “the String Trio,” “the Oud Concerto,” and “the Cello Concerto,” and he wrote the soundtracks for the documentary series “Pillars of Light” and the movie “Saint Maron.” He also composed the music for the Greek play “Bacchus of Lyrobides.” He gave several concerts in Sweden, in addition to his distinguished participation with the great Lebanese artist Wadih Al-Safi in 1974 at the UNESCO concert held in Beirut, during which he performed a number of Syriac folk songs.