Michel Elefteriades

When it comes to fusion it is Michel Elefteriades and MusicHall. The master producer keeps Beirut traditions of celebrating diverse culture raging on. Playlist - Al Jazeera English Michel Elefteriades is a Greek-Lebanese politician, artist, producer and businessman born on June 22, 1970 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is notorious around the Arab world for his eclectic style and creations. With a Lebanese mother and a father of Byzantine Greek descent who is the grandnephew of Saint Chrysostomos Kalafatis, Metropolitan of Smyrna, Michel Elefteriades' multicultural origins were all the more reinforced as he lived in different countries and speaks six languages. He studied Fine Arts and Advertising in the city of Nantes, France and holds a Masters degree in Graphic Design and Communication Arts from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA). Music and show business career Author and composer of more than 120 songs for such European and Arab artists as Tony Hanna, Demis Roussos, Jean Jacques Lafon, Nahawanad, Hanine y Son Cubano, El Chato, Galvez, Jose Fernandez, as well as a collective work including Saber el Ruba’i, Moen Shraif, Wadih El Safi, Mohamad el Mazem, he is also a pioneer of World Music fusion. As a music producer and arranger, his creations are known to count among the Arab world's most successful modern musical experiments: El Chato and Cheb Mami : the first Arabo-Gispsy fusion in the Arab world (1992) Hanine Y Son Cubano Wadih El Safi in duo with Jose Fernandez Demis Roussos & the Oriental Roots Orchestra Tony Hanna & the Yugoslavian Gipsy Brass Band Tino Favazza & the Oriental Roots Orchestra: a blend of Oriental Rythms with Bel Canto arias

Founder in 1999 of the “Mediterraneo Byblos International Festival” and its Director from 1999 to 2003, he also collaborated with the Middle East’s leading festivals and wrote, composed and directed in 2004 “The Journey of Four Songs”, a musical for the most prestigious celebration of performing arts in the Arab world, the Baalbeck International Festival.

Michel Elefteriades has already directed a number of music videos, for such artists as Galvez, Demis Roussos, Tony Hanna, The Chehade Brothers, Hanine Y Son Cubano, Michel Elefteriades,

Nahawand, Tania Saleh, José Fernandez, Abdel Karim Chaar, Yusra, Rom Bakhtale, Tino Favazza…

He is also the director of documentaries about Tony Hanna and on the life of Nahawand.

In 2003, he founded Beirut’s “MusicHall”, an 800-seat theatre venue specializing in cultural showbiz through a one of a kind concept that made it one of the first nightlife-clubbing destinations in Lebanon and the Middle East. This unique live music stage has been described by Al-Jazeera as “the place where the heart of world fusion music beats” and by La Vanguardia as: “The Mythical, overwhelmingly successful MusicHall”. MusicHall has been visited by some of Elefteriades renowned friends like: Sting, Zucchero, Emilio Stefan to name a few.

In spring 2005, Michel Elefteriades co-organized a mega concert in Beirut, bringing on stage the biggest names of the Arab song: Nancy Ajram, Wadih El Safi, Myriam Fares, Ramy Ayach, Marwan Khoury, Amal Hijazi… The proceeds of the event were entirely forwarded, through the United Nations, to the South East Asia Tsunami victims.

On the same year, in order to celebrate the International Day of Peace, he organized a free concert by the National Orchestra of Nowheristan at the UNESCO Palace, in collaboration with the United Nations.

Elefteriades is also the founder and co-owner of “Elef.Records”, a former “Warner Music” label that already produced over 16 albums, of which:

• Tony Hanna & the Yugoslavian Gipsy Brass Band
• Tony Hanna & the National Orchestra of Nowheristan
• Mounir El Khawli - The Dragon of Tarab
• Hanine Y Son Cubano : Arabo-Cuban, 10908 and The Festival Album
• José Fernandez – Makhlouta
• Wadih El Safi & Jose Fernandez
• Tania Saleh
• The Chehade Brothers: A Bridge Over the Mediterranean – Live at MusicHall
• José Gálvez & the National Orchestra of Nowheristan
• Lautaris
• Nahawand
• Michel Elefteriades – L’Empereur chante
• Tino Favazza and The Oriental Roots Orchestra

As a painter, his works were presented at several collective exhibitions in France, Germany and Lebanon. In 1995, he presented The Wailing Wall, a 10x2 meters piece of art, at a special edition of the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs that took place in Beirut Central District instead of its customary location at Paris’ prestigious Grand Palais.

Elefteriades is also the author of poems and one novel: “Poemes, pensées, chansons et autres conneries”. In 1994, he was editor for over a year of a weekly review on “crazy thoughts and ideas” in An-Nahar, Lebanon’s leading newspaper.

In his search for a just and better world where the notions of justice, liberation, and equality prevail, Michel Elefteriades decided to set the foundations of a new social, philosophical, as well as political and cultural approach to a new nation he named “Nowheristan”.
The ceremony of proclamation of the Great Empire of Nowheristan received the United Nations' encouraging support by the presence of UN Secretary General’s personal representative and the Lebanese Minister of Culture. Numerous intellectuals have joined the concept of Nowheristan and more than one hundred thousand of candidates from around the world have already applied for citizenship.

As a public speaker, Elefteriades addressed audiences on different topics at a number of seminars and symposia (World Cultural Forum, World Music Expo, MECCAD, Mercado Cultural of Salvador do Bahia, Charles University in Prague, World Summit on Innovation…).

Michel Elefteriades has featured in major world media with articles, interviews and reports in: CNN, BBC, TV5, TVE, FR3, France 24, Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabia, Al-Hurra, Los Angeles Times, Der Spiegel, El Mundo, El Pais, La Vanguardia, Le Point, Al-Ahram, Hurriyet, Paris-Match, An-Nahar, Al-Sharq al Awsat...