Ashraf Kateb is a Syrian-German violinist and composer, born in Aleppo, Syria. 

He studied violin at music academies in Aleppo, Moscow, Berlin, and Krakow.

For three consecutive years, he won first prize in the children's competition in Syria. He was a member of a delegation to the Festival for Talented Children in Krakow (Poland) and won second place among participants from 28 countries.

Ashraf has lived in Berlin since 1992 as a solo and chamber musician, works as a music teacher, and develops many other musical activities.

He participated in various international festivals and was the only Arab musician in the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra and the "Philharmonie der Nationen." There, he performed alongside many world-renowned musicians, including Justus Frantz, Yehudi Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropowitsch, Montserrat Caballé, Georg Solti, Igor Oistrach, Plácido Domingo, and others.

For many years, he worked with sopranos Deborah Sasson and Anna-Maria Kaufmann, as well as star tenor Erkan Aki.

 

His work is driven by a passion for promoting musical culture and preserving Arabic music heritage.

Since 1997, he has led the project 'Arabic Music and the World,' an international pioneering effort to collect, publish, and perform the works of Arab composers, introducing the world to the creations of these talented Arab musicians.

 

He produced his first CD, titled, “Gesture,” in 2001 accompanied by the Syrian-German pianist Gaswan Zerikly. The project was a great international success and a unique work of art in the history of music, presenting the violin and piano works of seven Arab composers from Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco.

In October 2009, he was awarded the Silver Shield of the City of Aleppo, presented by the Mayor and Chairman of the City Council, in recognition of his efforts to promote musical culture.

 

In October 2010, Ashraf released and published his new CD "Dia Succari, composer from my Aleppo" funded by the city of Aleppo and other NGO’s, where he has recorded the complete works (22 Pieces) for violin and piano of Syrian Composer Dia Succari accompanied by 22 pianists from 21 different nations.

 

In 2015 he was the music director and one of the composers for “Intima”, a fusion of visual art, dance, and music. Intima investigates themes of selfdiscovery, conflict, loss and resolution. The cultural history of Syria, ranging from the Gilgamesh epic to the current, tragic war, inspired the work, from producer Tayeb Al-Hafez of Al’Myra Communications.

 

Ashraf composed music for "Wit-ness" a multi-media project grounded in performance art. It features film, photolithographs and burnt paper works by Macedonian artist Igor Josifov. The film project asks the question: “Who is really watching whom?”

 

 

From 2015 to 2019, he worked on a project called Salam to Syria 'Peace for Syria.' These are concerts accompanied by various cultural  activities (visual arts, literary readings, theater, cinema...) interpreted by Syrian artists or friends who love Syria.  

"Every civilized person has two home countries – his own and Syria." 

André Parrot (1901-1980), Director of the Louvre Museum 

 

In 2017, he received support from ADMAF (Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival) to reprint 1000 copies of his CD "Dia Succari, composer from my Aleppo" after the Syrian war claimed the remaining copies in Aleppo.

 

October 2018 ”Syria in my heart” USA tournee to 5 American Universities: Yale, Boston, Brown, Tufts and Connecticut College with Finnish Syrian Pianist Hamsa Al-Wadi.

 

In November 2019 he released his new CD "Sonata Arabe" with the Finnish-Syrian pianist Hamsa Al-Wadi, where he recorded nine sonatas for violin and piano by the nine Arab composers with the support of AFAC and The library.