Gabriel Asaad

Gabriel Asaad (Syriac: ܓܒܪܐܝܠ ܐܣܥܕ) (March 18, 1907 – July 6, 1997), also spelled Gabriel Assad, was an Assyrian composer, musician and nationalist. Born in Midyat to a Syriac Orthodox family, his family moved to Adana before the Assyrian genocide, where he studied languages at the Taw Mim Semkath orphanage. His experience at the orphanage would later inspire him to pursue a career in music, which had never been pursued in his family before.

Inspired by Assyrian nationalistic activities, which he began in Syria, Asaad is considered a pioneer in modern Assyrian folk-pop music. In the 1920s, he composed the first song in Surayt (Turoyo), and from then on, he would travel across West Asia performing music. In Syria, he continued his activities as the musical director of a cultural center in Qamishli, where he would teach and play with other rising musicians.

Asaad moved to Sweden in 1979, where he would live out the rest of his life until his passing in 1997. Today, he is retrospectively regarded as a master in Assyrian music and a popular hero among Western Assyrians and musicians.

Read more about this composer on Wikipedia.