Album Notes

"[The Animal Rags]...clever, wonderful, witty, and all beautifully played. [I] liked the incorporation of various musical styles all mixed up together... They are great fun to listen to."
William Bolcom, Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1988

"Critics worldwide have justifiably sung their praises for Howrani. His technical command, close attention to minute details, and lucid interpretive powers are buoyed by a poetic sensitivity that is at once refined and free-spirited."
The Washington Post

"Waleed Howrani is my choice for pianist, if pianist there be."
Arwulf Arwulf


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Biography of WALEED HOWRANI

Howrani was born in New York in 1948 and lived in Lebanon for a few years where he studied piano with Sonia Aharonian and Zvart Sarkissian. At age six he performed in public for the first time. Seven years later he was discovered by the late composer Aram Khatchatourian who recognized his potential and arranged for a ten-year full scholarship at the renowned Central Music School and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. During that time, Howrani spent three years under the tutelage of Emil Gilels and became a Laureate in the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium Piano Competition. Thus followed a decades-long career performing internationally, receiving numerous honors along the way.
Later, Howrani pursued his lifelong passion for composing by studying with William Albright (1944-1998) who once observed: "Waleed is one of the great pianists that I have heard...As a composer...he has great imagination, a high level of technique, and a rich body of influences, including his knowledge of Middle Eastern music."
Howrani has since received several awards for his works - among them are the Creative Artist grant from the Michigan Council for the Arts, the Lebanese Medal of Cedar, the Khalil Gibran Fine Arts Scholar award, and most recently, the Medal of Excellence in Music from the Makhzoumi Foundation.
In 2002, his Introduction and Firedance won first prize in the Youse Adult Composers contest, sponsored by the National Federation of Music Clubs.