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From Amman to Raleigh—The Life of Arab Composer Suad Bushnaq

WUNC | By Anita Rao,

Frank Stasio

Published November 23, 2015 at 12:09 PM EST

Meet Suad Bushnaq

Suad Bushnaq was born and raised in Amman, Jordan. She composed her first piece of music, a simple birthday song for her brother, when she was just 9 years old. She is now one of a handful of Arab women composers in the world. Her compositions are featured in documentaries and films like “The Curve,” a feature film recently selected at the Dubai International Film Festival. One of her pieces also recently made its world premiere with the Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra, a German-based group of Syrian musicians who are trying to show the world a different side of their homeland. Host Frank Stasio talks to Suad Bushnaq about her journey from Amman to Raleigh, where she now teaches at the Triangle Math and Science Academy.

Listen to one of her most famous pieces, "Lamma Bada Yatathanna"

"Hijazz Majazzy"

Composer Suad Bushnaq (R) with her father Saher in her apartment in Raleigh in 2015.

Composer Suad Bushnaq dressed up as 'Rosie The Riveter' for a Halloween celebration at The Triangle Math and Science Academy in Raleigh

Copyright 2015 North Carolina Public Radio

Anita Rao

Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.

See stories by Anita Rao

Frank Stasio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.

See stories by Frank Stasio