Sulhi al-Wadi

Solhi al-Wadi
Solhi al-Wadi in 1979
Background information
Native name	صلحي الوادي
Born	(1934-02-12)12 February 1934
Origin	Baghdad, Iraq
Died	30 September 2007(2007-09-30) (aged 73)
Occupation(s)	Conductor, composer, director
Years active	1960–2002

Solhi al-Wadi (Arabic: صلحي الوادي‎‎‎, ṣulḥī al-wādī) (1934–2007) was an Iraqi-born musician, conductor, composer, educator and director, who lived most of his life in Damascus, Syria.

Solhi al-Wadi was born in Baghdad on 12 February 1934 to an Iraqi father and a Jordanian mother, who moved to live in Damascus, Syria, when he was a child. He went to Victoria College, a British boarding school in Alexandria, Egypt, where he started to study the violin and composition at the local conservatory. In 1953 he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Music in London to pursue higher studies in music.

In 1960, after graduating, Solhi al-Wadi returned to Damascus and began work on establishing serious music as part of the fine arts scene in Syria. In 1962 he founded the Arab Institute of Music and was appointed its director. He established relations with several foreign countries, especially the former Soviet Union, to be able to bring qualified teachers in all disciplines and instruments, to teach Syrian youngsters, who were interested in learning music. In 2004 the Arab Institute of Music was renamed the Solhi al-Wadi Institute of Music.

In 1990, after years of negotiating with the Syrian Ministry of Culture and other necessary instances, he succeeded in fulfilling his dream of opening The High Institute of Music and Theater, which provides musicians, theater students and dancers in Syria with higher education, without needing to go abroad to study, and he was appointed its dean. He was also appointed professor of theory, history of music and music appreciation in this institute.

At the same time, through al-Wadi’s efforts, the Damascus Opera House – Dar Al-Assad for Culture & Arts – was opened. He was proud of acquiring a German organ especially built for it.