Who Am I
Born in Jerusalem, Issa Boulos is an award-winning composer, poet, songwriter, and researcher. Over a career spanning over 40 years, Boulos has performed and conducted music in Palestine and around the world, composed for international and local orchestras and ensembles, and arranged vocal and instrumental works for groups and singers around the world. He received his BA and MA in composition from Columbia College and Roosevelt University and his PhD from Leiden University in ethnomusicology. He currently serves as the manager of the Center for Music and Community Arts at Harper College and a lecturer in music. Boulos plays the ‘ud, buzuq, percussion instruments and sings. Boulos uses many musical concepts in his compositions and uses traditional instruments in most of his works. These works vary in their construction in terms of melodic, Western, and modern maqam paths, as well as finding musical harmonies that suit the compositions he weaves. Boulos has composed a lot for orchestras, jazz bands, traditional and contemporary ensembles, solo instruments, chamber music, and music for feature films, documentaries, and musical theater. Despite his roots in the traditional maqam, his music often explores this material through the idea of improvisation and different musical techniques, allowing him to create innovative works that respect traditions and draw ispiration from them to go beyond the ordinary and examine the state of meaning he wants to express. Boulos’s compositions often serve as a means of cultural expression, identity, and the human condition, as he seeks to present a Palestinian identity and culture through his music. This approach reflects his background and experiences as an artist who dialogues with traditional elements and contemporary methods to create a unique and convincing musical sound with artistic and human meaning and value.