Nouri Iskandar was born in Aleppo 1938. He studied at the higher institute of music at the University of Cairo and was graduated with B.A degree in music.
He worked with composing Syriac folk music since the early sixties where he composed the most famous Syriac folk songs like "O habibo habibo", "Zliqe frsi", "Lo tehfokh" and others.
In 1973 Nouri Iskandar presented the first professional Syriac musical festival at the Auditorium of the UNESCO Palace in Beirut, when he presented the Syriac folk music in a very modern and cultural manner.
Nouri Iskandar composed large number of Syriac folk songs. His most famous work is “Parqana” (Salvation) a Syriac operate, ”Solo violin with string quintet” and ”Solo oud with string trio” beside tens of film music.
Of his famous works, the Castle of Aleppo´s concert in 1997, he represented the Syrian Arab folklore songs proving that their original source is the Syriac church hymns.
With respect to church music he notated “Beth Gazo” (The Treasury of Chants) of the Syriac church, according to the Edessian school of rhythms. This work is unique in the documentation of church music. Beside this Nouri Iskandar made tens of professional concerts both in Syria and in Europe.
Nouri Iskandar is currently the director of the Conservatory of Music in Aleppo, the city of his permanent residency.
Nouri Iskandar
