The city of Rabat today, Wednesday, witnessed the inauguration of Lebanese musician Marcel Khalife as an honorary member of the Moroccan Academy, which is the highest national institution working to support and enhance intellectual, scientific, and cultural progress and to promote the components of Morocco’s national identity.
The list of honorary members of the academy includes prominent scientific and political figures from Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Tunisia, Chile, and Peru.
Khalife’s joining the academy came as “an acknowledgment of the artist’s distinguished status in the conscience of Arab music, and as one of its pillars and most prominent faces of renewal.”
Khalife (75 years old) expressed his pride in this appointment, saying, “A 50-year journey of music, poetry, and song, and commitment to the collective condition… perhaps it is the journey of an entire generation, worn out by politics, burdened by wars, and let down by loud slogans.”
He recalled his beginnings, saying, “As a small child, I loved music, and I did not know it would reach the level of a profession. I thought music would remain a hobby, and even now, despite this long path, I am still… between hobby and profession; I have remained both an amateur and a professional at the same time.”
He continued, saying, “To be a professional means to take the process seriously and fully responsibly, and to be an amateur means not to become a musical employee, and through this oscillation between profession and hobby, something is achieved.”
With the humility of great artists, he said that he has not yet written the music he dreams of composing. He noted that he is working on a musical piece inspired by Moroccan music, blending Andalusian and Amazigh music.
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