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All Music Guide:
Armand Amar is a composer based in Paris who's well known for his film scores and dance pieces. Amar was born in Jerusalem in 1953 and raised in Morocco. Amar became interested in music at an early age and undertook a rigorous program of self-education, studying European classical music as well as the traditional styles of African and Middle Eastern music. Fascinated by the link between music and physical performance, Amar found a vehicle for these interests when he began working with South African choreographer and anthropologist Peter Goss, who appreciated Amar's interest in the sounds of different cultures. Amar's compositions for Goss led to collaborations with several other noted dance troupes, as well as the acting workshop of Patrice Chéreau and the Conservatoire National Supérieur. In 1994, Amar performed on the soundtrack of Michel Blanc's film Grosse Fatigue, and in 1997 he composed the score for the television presentation Miracle a l'Eldorado. In 2002, celebrated filmmaker Costa Gavras invited Amar to score his film Amen, making it the first of a long string of film soundtracks written and produced by the composer. In addition to his work as a composer and performer, Amar is also one of the founders of the record label Long Distance, specializing in world music and classical works from around the globe.
Wikipedia:
Armand Amar (born 1953) is an Israeli-born French composer, who grew up in Morocco. He won the 2010 César Award for Best Music Written for a Film for Le Concert (Radu Mihaileanu).
Biography [edit]
Amar was born in Jerusalem, to an Israeli mother and a Jewish-Moroccan father with a French passport. As a child, he immigrated to Morocco with his father. In 1968, he began playing the congas. He also practiced the tabla and the zarb in the following years.
In 1976 he met South African choreographer Peter Goss, who introduced him to dance. In the subsequent years, he worked with a number of choreographers in contemporary dance.
His works are focused particularly on Eastern music. He is the author of several ballets and soundtracks films such as Get up and walk, The Trail, Indigenous, Live and Become, The First Cry, Earth from Heaven, "Bab'Aziz and Home. He has also collaborated twice with Costa Gavras, scoring Amen. and The Ax.
He founded the label Long Distance in 1994 with his partners Alain Weber and Peter Gabriel.
