Tania Saleh


Tania Saleh is a Lebanese singer-songwriter who has been prominent in the Arabic independent musical scene since 1990.

Biography

Tania Saleh is a Lebanese singer/songwriter/visual artist who is considered as one of the founders of the Arabic independent alternative musical scene in Lebanon and the Arab world. Her voice is a soft mix between the traditional Arabic music she was raised on and the western sounds she chose to follow. Her lyrics mirror the reality of the Lebanese/Arab social and political turmoil. Since her early debut in 1990, she has experimented with various musical genres, which has resulted in a fresh and original mix of Lebanese music flavored with folk, alternative rock, bossa nova, jazz and most recently electronic music.
She survived the Lebanese civil war that started when she was 6. Saleh began her musical journey in her late teens when Alex Bessos, founder of the band Minus Infinitee, in search of a lead vocalist expressed his interest in her voice and invited her to audition for the job of lead singer. Her first live performance was at the West Hall at the American University of Beirut in 1986. The Minus Infinitee experience did not last long because the founder emigrated to the United States.
Childhood
Her childhood and teenage years were affected tremendously by her parents' divorce, the civil war and the fact that her single mother was raising her two daughters alone. She had to start working at an early age to help support the family. At 17, she sang in various choirs, wrote jingles for radio commercials and worked as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer.
Education
Saleh enrolled in The Lebanese American University to study Fine Arts but music was always her first love. While in college, she joined many rock bands in search for her own style. Sometimes she had to cross the border between East and West Beirut to do her rehearsals with the musicians.
In 1990, after the civil war ended, she left to Paris to get her master's degree in "Arts Plastiques". She lived in a boat on the Seine river and fell in love with the beauty of the city.
Television and Advertising
Between 1992 and 2014, she applied her passion for the arts in the world of television where, for two years, she experimented with image and sound, created illustrations, animations, video art and wrote music jingles for Future Television.
Later, she drowned in the world of advertising which was a new creative school that opened a new horizon on audio-visual and conceptual experimentation.
Collaboration with Ziad Rahbany
She auditioned for an upcoming play by Ziad Rahbany, a famous Lebanese music composer/lyricist/pianist and playwright. She acted and sang live in two consecutive plays, "Bikhsous el Karameh Wil Shaab el Anid" and "Lawla Foushat el Amal" between 1993 and 1996, and contributed backing vocals recording on two cult albums, "Bema Enno" and "Ila Assy".

First Album

In 1997, Tania started to work on her solo album "Tania Saleh" in collaboration with music veteran Issam Hajali. She recorded her first songs at Notta Studio with sound engineer Philippe Tohme. Ziad Rahbany played piano on two of her tracks, her first single, "Al Ozone" and "Habibi". The album was not considered a mainstream success but Saleh started an independent musical movement especially with the growth of the internet community in the Arab world.

Personal

She married Philippe Tohme between 1997 and 2011 and gave birth to Tarek in 1997 and Karim in 2003 who took her away from live performances for more than seven years. In the meantime, she started writing her second album, while still working in the advertising world to make a living and help produce her music.

Collaborations

In 2006, she wrote the lyrics to Natacha Atlas' song "Communicate" released on Lebanese band Blend's one and only album "Act One". Her first trip to the U.S.A. was hosted by music producer Miles Copeland who chose her as one of the main Arab artists portrayed in the PBS-produced musical documentary entitled: "Dissonance and Harmony/Arab Music Goes West". The documentary was preceded by a five-day musical workshop uniting American and Arab artists at SIR studios in Los Angeles. It was directed by Jon Brandeis and aired on PBS, BBC, Al Jazeera and Al Hurra. The result of this workshop/documentary was the songs: "Slow Down" and the song "Had There Been a Dream" both produced by Miles Copeland between 2006 and 2009.
In 2007, she wrote the lyrics to "Mreyte Ya Mreyte", the title song in Lebanese director Nadine Labaki's first feature film "Caramel", composed by Khaled Mouzannar. In 2010, she was featured on Al Jazeera Television in "Next Music Station", a documentary by musician /filmmaker Fermin Muguruza who painted a 'soundscape' of the modern independent Arab music scene. The film was screened in Studio 39, New York the next year.

Second Album

In April 2011, she released her second studio album and 2 music videos, "Wehde" and "Ya Wled", a critical ode to Lebanese politicians prior to the parliamentary elections.
The album immediately became number 1 on the TOP 10 list of best selling albums at Virgin Megastore, Beirut and accompanied the winds of change throughout the Arab World.

Second Collaboration with Nadine Labaki

She wrote the lyrics and coached the singers in Khaled Mouzannar's soundtrack for Nadine Labaki's second feature film "Where Do We Go Now?" released worldwide in September 2011. The film soundtrack also made it to number 1 on the TOP 10 list of best selling albums at Virgin Megastore, Beirut and was distributed worldwide. It won "Best Music Award" in Stockholm International Film Festival in November 2011.

Third Album

In 2012, she released her first live album containing songs from film soundtracks that she had written the lyrics for and three previously unreleased songs. The album was entitled "Tania Saleh Live at DRM" and released in December of the same year.
Her song "Hsebak Baadein" was included in Galileo's Lebanese underground music compilation entitled "Radio Beirut" released in Germany and on all online music platforms.

Lebanese Festivals 2013-2014

She opened the Beirut Spring Festival in May 2013 and was chosen by The Baalbeck International Festival to perform at the temple of Bacchus in 2014. She also shared the stage as a guest with Lebanese trumpet player and composer Ibrahim Maalouf at the Byblos International Festival the same year.

Independence

Although she is still working independently without a proper manager or booking agency, but she has performed live in the Barbican Centre, Institut du Monde Arabe, The Nobel Peace Centre, Freezone Festival, Woman's Voices Festival and Oslo World Festival, The Roxy & Arlington Festival, Kulturhuset Stadsteatern and Stallet and many others.
Her musical collaborations are very eclectic: Ziad Rahbany, Toufic Farroukh, Issam Hajali, Charbel Rouhana, Ibrahim Maalouf, Rayess Bek, Khaled Mouzannar, RZA, Nile Rodgers, Charlotte Caffey, Tarek El Nasser, Natasha Atlas, Bernd Kurtzke, Erik Hillestad, Anneli Drecker, Mathias Eick, Kjetil Bjerkestrand, Terry Evans, Hazem Shahine, Bugge Wesseltoft, Kari Bremnes, Khalil Judran and Lina Nyberg. She has also collaborated in musical workshops and residencies in Lebanon, France, USA, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Dubai, Switzerland, Kuwait, and Egypt.
Norwegian producer Erik Hillestad from the label Kirkelig Kulturverksted has co-produced her last two albums, "A Few Images/Algumas Imagens" and "Intersection" - a collaboration with Tunisian music producer Khalil Judran
Advertising Campaign Awards - Leo Burnett Beirut
Cafe Super Brasil


-Grand Crystal Award, Mena Crystal 2013


-2 Silver and 1 Bronze Lynx awards, Dubai Lynx 2012


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JinaWAjRtVw
Picon


-Gold Lynx for Branded Content & Entertainment, Dubai Lynx 2013


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZArZAn1NbM
Brand Protection Group


-Silver Lion, Cannes Lions 2011


-2 Gold Lynx awards, Dubai Lynx 2012


-1 Silver Crystal + 10 Crystals in other categories, Mena Crystal Awards 2012


-Bronze Trophy, Epica Awards Slovenia 2011


-2 Silver Drums, Golden Drum Awards Slovenia 2011


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdjcs6c-p9c
Women Empowerment Project "Khede Kasra"


-Gold Lion, Cannes Lions 2009


-Gold Medal & Bronze Medal, New York Festival 2010


-Gold Medal, UNDPI 2010


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEEeWUI_Z38
Additional Honors & Awards
-Lifetime Achievement Award, Lebanese American University, Beirut - 2018
-Finalist for the Global Arts Award for the street art in the audiovisual album "Intersection" - 2018
-Winner of the German Record Critics' Award for World Music for the audiovisual album "Intersection" - 2018
-Best Film Soundtrack for «Where Do We Go Now?», Prix France Musique Sacem - 2012


Lyrics by Tania Saleh - Music by Khaled Mouzanar - Directed by Nadine Labaki
-Best Film Soundtrack for «Where Do We Go Now?», Stockholm International Film Festival - 2011


Lyrics by Tania Saleh - Music by Khaled Mouzanar - Directed by Nadine Labaki
-Best Independent Music Album for album «Tania Saleh», Dubai Press Award - 2002
-Honored for excellence in Fine Arts, Sheikh Zayed Award Lebanese American University, Beirut - 1990

Albums

Studio Albums