Faraj Suleiman

Faraj Suleiman (Arabic:فرج سليمان born 1984) is a Palestinian composer, pianist and vocalist born in the town of Rameh in the Northern District.^[1] He is known for his unique musical style that blends traditional Arabic rhythms with jazz, classical, and contemporary Western influences. He kickstarted his career in 2013 in Haifa and since then has released more than 9 studio albums.^[2][3]

Born and raised in Rameh, He began playing the piano at the age of three under the guidance of his uncle, Youssef Basila. He moved to Jerusalem and Haifa where he lived for more than 15 years. He is based in Paris since at least 2019^[4]

Suleiman's musical journey began in 2013 when he started performing in Haifa. Over the years, he has released several albums, including Login (2013), Three Steps (2013), Love in the Cloud (2014), Al-Bashiq (2014), Mid-Spring Holiday (2015), Mud (2015), Opening of the Palestinian Museum (2016), Mire the Concert (2016), Aekara (2017), Once Upon a City (2017), Love Without a Story (2017), and Toy Box (2018). In 2019, he released his first vocal album, Second Verse. In 2020, he released Better than Berlin, with lyrics by Palestinian poet Majd Kayyal.^[5]

Suleiman's work extends beyond solo performances; he has composed music for theatre and film, including the award-winning film 200 Meters by Ameen Nayfeh, and Alam by Firas Khoury.^[6]

Suleiman has performed at many international venues and festivals, including:

• Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland, 2018) ^[7]
• Carthage Music Days (Tunisia, 2019) ^[8]