A wonderful voice from the authenticity of Jabal al-Arab, carrying much of the mountain's heritage, traditions, and the resilience of its people. This is, in short, what the Syrian artist Mais Harb represents and the sophisticated art she presents.
Mais Harb is a Syrian singer, born in the village of Al-Mujaymir in As-Suwayda Governorate on March 9, 1982. Her passion and love for singing began in her childhood, as she was raised on popular and folklore songs, and she also participated in a number of festivals across several Syrian governorates.
She graduated from the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus with a specialization in Arabic singing in 2008. She has worked with various international and Syrian ensembles dedicated to academic art as a solo singer, performing numerous concerts on Syrian stages, most notably the Damascus Opera House, as well as other Arab and international stages.
For her graduation project, she received the highest grade since the founding of the institute in her specialization, scoring 97 out of 100, when she performed the roles of "Dayya't Mustaqbal Hayati" by Zakariyya Ahmad and the song "Raqq al-Habib" by El Qasabgi, both of which are known to be among the most difficult pieces ever composed in Arabic music.
She formed her own musical ensemble, the "Sayed Darwish Ensemble," in 2008, consisting of 25 academic musicians led by the musician Rashid Hilal. The ensemble supports her artistic project to present committed and purposeful art to develop musical taste among the average listener. With her ensemble, she has performed many concerts inside Syria at the Opera House theater, the Citadel of Damascus theater, and other cultural center theaters. With the same ensemble, she performed a tribute concert for Fairuz in Algeria in November 2015, at the invitation of the Algerian Cultural Radiation Agency.
She released her first album, titled "Khaitan al-Shams" (Threads of the Sun), from the Syrian Opera House in September 2016, which includes seven songs and a musical piece, in the preparation of which she collaborated with a number of academic musicians and Syrian poets.
In 2019, she launched the album "Surat" during a public concert she held at the Opera House in Damascus, and she donated 50% of the album's proceeds to support the Basma Association, which cares for children with cancer in Syria.
She has worked with several international and Syrian ensembles dedicated to academic art as a solo singer, performing numerous concerts with them on Syrian stages, most notably the Damascus Opera House, as well as other Arab and international stages ("Morocco, UAE, Tunisia, Lebanon, Sudan, Jordan, Italy, Germany").
She has participated in theater as an actress and singer, starring in the play "Waiting for the Barbarians" by director Walid al-Quatli, in which she played the role of a singer recounting the events of the show. She was also the one who composed the text written for singing. The play was shown in both Egypt and Syria in 2010. She also played a leading role in the play "The Road to the Sun" by director Mamdouh al-Atrash and writer Kifah al-Khous, which was presented at the Opera House in Damascus and is considered her most important theatrical experience. She also participated as a singer and actress in the cinema in the film "Atawil Tariquna am Yatwal" by Syrian film director Raymond Boutros.
She was invited by the Algerian Cultural Agency to perform a "tribute" concert for Fairuz at the Bachtarzi Theater in Algiers in November 2015.
She participated in the tour held by the Syrian Musicians Orchestra in Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Turkey with British singer Damon Albarn, which was organized by the company Africa Xpress in June 2016.
She participated in the activities of the "Culture Against Violence" forum held by the Anna Lindh Foundation in Tunisia in March 2017.
She also participated with the same organization, Anna Lindh, in a conference on the role of cultural exchange between fragile regions of the world in September 2017 in Tunisia.
She held a tribute concert for Fairuz titled "Min Qalbi Salam li-Fairuz" (From My Heart, Peace to Fairuz) at the Opera House in Damascus in October 2017.
She has performed many theme songs for Syrian series for several Syrian musical composers, such as: "Taher Mamelli, Samir Kuwaifati, Radwan Nasri, Fadi Mardini." Among the works: "Souq al-Waraq - Ayyam al-Dirasa - Mosaic."
In addition to many contributions to the soundtracks for many series, including: "Ana al-Quds - Al-Imimi - Buq'at Daw' - Tahia Carioca - Dalila wal-Zaybak, and other series." The most famous of these was the song "Nater" by artist Marwan Khoury in the series "Alaqat Khasa" (Special Relationships).
Click here to listen to one of Mais Harb's most beautiful pieces alongside her grandfather.
