Celebrating Asma Hamza

Google Dooles 16.07.2023 23:30  Date: July 17, 2023 Today’s Doodle celebrates Sudanese composer and oud player Asma Hamza. On this day in 1997, Asma was amongst the winners of the Laylat AlQadr AlKubra music competition in Sudan. This win was a turning point in her career and helped her gain recognition in a male-dominated field. Asma was born in 1932 and loved music while growing up, dreaming of one day becoming a singer. Her vocal cords, however, weren’t equipped to do that safely, so she switched from singing tunes to whistling them. When her father heard her whistle in harmony, he borrowed an oud, similar to a lute but with a thinner neck and no frets, so Asma could practice. She taught herself how to play songs she’d heard on the oud, from her own memory and ear for music. Her father encouraged her musical career from the start, but he was one of few. At that time, it was not socially acceptable for women to create music in Sudan; Asma recalls that the first piece she composed was in secret. As she got older, she composed more melodies for several talented Arab artists and became known as one of the first female composers in Sudan. She also continued perfecting her oud playing and became amongst the first formally trained woman oud player in 1946. Thank you for sharing your musical skills and working towards a more equal world for women, Asma Hamza! Location: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Tags: