Dia talks hip-hop, opera and what it’s like being “musically bilingual” with Syrian-born musician and composer Kareem Roustom

How did you start your musical journey?

A long time ago, finding a guitar at a friend’s home in Damascus. Although music was always around us, the challenge of figuring out how to make that instrument sing was too tempting to ignore.

And where did you study?

I began my music studies in my late teens, after we had moved to the States from Syria. At first it was on my own, and then I enrolled in university in Massachusetts. But my first really influential teacher was the late Charlie Banacos, a genius in the truest sense of the word. I studied jazz improvisation with him. In later years I began a long and lasting relationship with Arabic music, but that story might be too long for right now!

You have composed for films and documentaries including The Encounter Point, Amreeka, and Budrus, as well as a Beyonce & Shakira Duet—very eclectic! Can you tell us a little about each?

I like to say that I’m “musically bi-lingual”—trained in Western music, but steeped in Arabic, and specifically Near Eastern, styles. All of these projects demanded some sense of that. Encounter Point called for a very traditional score, so there were elements of classical Arabic music and Klezmer. Amreeka was a story with a lot of heart, so the score had to be subtle and sweet. I used the Arabic accordion as one of the primary colors. The work for Shakira required slick string arrangements, the likes of which you’d hear in the music of the latest Arab pop singers….

The most challenging of all, however, was the score for a PBS documentary called The Mosque in Morgantown, in which I had to combine elements of Arabic, North Indian and West Virginia bluegrass! I’m very excited to report that my score has been nominated for a 2010 News & Documentary Emmy.

What’s in store for you in the immediate future? Any concerts, collaborations or new films or other projects coming up”?

I am at the very tail end of completing a large-scale choral commission, about an hour long, for a choir with soloists, trumpets, harps, 2 percussionists and an organ. The text is from Khalil Gibran’s book, Jesus: The Son of Man, and it will premiere in Boston on May 8 with repeat performances on May 18 2011. I think we’ll have a 90-piece choir, so I’m very excited about this project. Gibran’s text is very powerful, and there is a very strong Boston connection, as this is where he and his family moved when they emigrated from Lebanon.

Read more about Kareem Roustom at http://www.kr-music.com