Farida Mohammad Ali

Farida Mohammad Ali (Arabic, فريدة محمد علي; born 1963) is an Iraqi singer known for her mastery of the Iraqi maqam and Arabic maqam styles. Since leaving Iraq in 1997, she lives in the Netherlands and performs Iraqi maqam with the Iraqi Maqam Ensemble.

Early life Farida Mohammad Ali was born in Kerbala, Iraq, in 1963.

She graduated from the Musical Institute & Academy of Fine Arts (Baghdad Conservatory), where she studied under oud master Munir Bashir. It was Bashir who encouraged her to perform classical Iraqi maqam, although women were generally discouraged from such study.

From 1986 until 1989, she was a member of the Iraqi Musical Heritage Group,

She performs regularly in the Iraqi Maqam Ensemble. The ensemble was established in 1989 in Baghdad by Mohammad H.Gomar to continue the 1973 ensemble organized by the prominent oud teacher Munir Bashir. All members completed their studies at the Musical Institute & Academy of Fine Arts in Iraq. )

In film Ali appears in the 2015 documentary film On the Banks of the Tigris, by filmmaker Marsha Emerman and Iraqi-Australian writer and actor Majid Shokor. The film was awarded Best Documentary Film at the Baghdad International Film Festival that year.

Discography All credited as "Farida and the Iraqi Maqam Ensemble" Classical Music of Iraq (Music and Words, 1998) Iraqi Mawal & maqam (produced by Samarkand company in the Netherlands 2000) Departure (Produced by the Dutch company Soly Luna 2001) Tradition (Produced by Munir Bashir Foundation 2002) Voice of Mesopotamia (Produced By Long Distance France, 2003) Baghdad Eternity (Poems & Maqamat) (Produced by Iraqi Maqam Foundation 2004) Ishraqaat (Produced by Snail Records 2005)