Elias Zazi

Elias Zazi was born in Beirut 1964, theorist in music, composer, teacher of music and music critic to a daily newspaper in Södertälje-Sweden.

Elias began his hobby as a disc jockey in 1981 and two years later he won the competition “Stockholm’s best DJ 1983-1984” that was arranged by the in-spot place called Studion in St. Eriksplan in Stockholm.

In 1985 his interest of Oriental music awaked. Elias Zazi who rose in the sixties in Lebanon had already acquainted to the Arabic music and the Syriac Orthodox Church music. At the beginning of the eighties he began his studies of music and its bases, and in 1995-1996 he composed “The Dream sonata” the first Syriac musical operate in two acts which played on the stage of Estrad-Södertälje in May 1996.

After the Dream sonata Elias began his studies of the western music. He studied the western music’s theories, harmony and contra-point and more, and wrote many peaces of western music and a Cantata, a choir’s multiple-voices songs with a chamber music orchestra. Moreover he composed some Syriac song, which represented in different Syriac occasions. From his works we may mention the half-hour’s musical program, which opened the congress of the “Democratic Social Party” which took place in Södertälje year 2000. Elias’ latest production, “String Quartet in E minor”, was performed on the stage of Estrad in Södertälje in November 2003 and was very appreciated by the audience and the critics who considered it the best of Zazi’s works in the form of western music.

Elias Zazi, who works as a Laboratory Engineer at AstraZeneca in Södertälje-Sweden, has many other interests next to music. Besides writing in the local newspaper he wrote a history book about the Assyrian/Syrian people. This book was requested by the municipality of Södertälje in 1997.

In Elias Zazi’s music you feel the combination of the eastern and the western style. He is highly inspired of the Lebanese music of the Rahbani brothers, the Syriac orthodox church music and the western chamber music that have been composed of the romantic-period’s composers.