biography
📸 November 2021: Bacem Anas Romdhani in London during a video shoot for his ‘Liebesleid’ music video available on YouTube.
📸 November 2021: Bacem Anas Romdhani in London during a video shoot for his ‘Serenade’ music video available on YouTube.
Pianist: Elizaveta Velikhova
Bacem Anas Romdhani emerged from Tunisia as a child prodigy in the early 20’s. He is a Tunisian-British classical violinist proudly representing the musical elite of the MENA region.
Highlights of his career include being the first African-Arab classical artist to reach the semi-final of the Windsor Festival International string competition 2021 (UK), winning 3rd prize at the Vienna New Year’s Concert International music competition 2021 and winning 1st prize at the Vatelot-Rampal International violin competition 2007 (Paris) before turning 12. He made his debut performance at the Wigmore Hall (London) in 2014.
Aged nine, Bacem Anas was invited by the Tunisian Symphony Orchestra to make his solo debut. Aged ten, He won the ‘World Philharmonic Orchestra’ competition 2006 in Paris and represented Tunisia, Africa & the Arab world as part of the 'Five children of the world'. His early musical journey is chronicled in the award-winning documentary ‘Once Upon Our Time’ (2010) produced by multi-award winning Tunisian film maker Hichem Ben Ammar.
Bacem Anas’ early success came to the attention of the president of the Tunisian Republic, where he received an Honorary award in 2007. In 2014, he became the first Tunisian classical artist to be appointed by the Tunisian Symphony Orchestra as their ‘Solo Artist in Residence’
He has performed widely in Europe, highlights include the Österreichische Nationalbibiliothek for Tunisia’s ‘National Dialogue Quartet’ Nobel Peace prize ceremony in Vienna, the Menuhin & Tibor Varga Festivals, the Muziekgebouw in Holland and the Tunisian Embassy in London. He performed on all the major concert venues in Tunisia, to name a few Municipal Theatre of Tunis, Carthage Amphitheater, Acropolium of Carthage, Municipal Theatre of Sousse, El Jem Amphitheater.
In 2020, the famed Tunisian composer Ouanes Khligene wrote a piece specially for Romdhani. The piece is for violin & piano titled ‘Le Voyageur & La Rose’ (EN: The Traveller & The Rose) with a special story written by the famed Tunisian writer Hechmi Ghachem. A violin concerto was also composed for him before the composer’s passing. Both works are yet to be premiered.
Bacem Anas performs on the very fine “Menuhin” 1998 violin made by Andreas Hellinge in Geneva, made specially for Lord Yehudi Menuhin.
Five Children of the World
World Philharmonic Orchestra (Paris)
World Philharmonic Orchestra
The World Philharmonic Orchestra (WPO) is the orchestra of the 21st century. The WPO was created so that the universal language of music would offer a message of peace and fraternity to the whole international community, uniting and bringing closer all nations through the participation of soloists who represent the symphonic orchestras from all countries (more than 80).
Five Children of the World
The Five Children of the World (2006) were scouted through a rigorous competition. Each talented and gifted child was given the opportunity to represent their country & continent, as well as awarded a generous scholarship and a fine instrument.
Bacem Anas Romdhani (Concertmaster): Representing Tunisia, Africa & the Arab World
Singles
Serenade
Vocalise
Liebesleid
Gavotte en Rondeau
Adagio
listen on your favourite platform!
Concerts
Schedule will be published soon
Videos
Watch more videos
Violin
The very fine “ex.Menuhin” 1998 violin by Andreas Hellinge, Geneva, made specially for Lord Yehudi Menuhin
“In 1998 Lord Yehudi Menuhin consigned the fabled 1742 ‘Lord Wilton’ Del Gesu for sale with Hug & Co in Zurich. Whilst it was for sale, the company invited the Swiss maker Andreas Hellinge to produce two ‘bench copies’ of the violin. This is one of those copes that was intended for presentation to Menuhin as a memento of the sale. It is arguably amongst the most important contemporary violins commissioned for Menuhin. The violin has superb playing qualities, and is both musically and technically one of the best modern del Gesu copies I have come across.”
documentary
Once Upon Our Time
Multi-award Winning Documentary (Tunisian Success Story)
Hichem Ben Ammar — Tunisia — 2010 — 85 min
In 2006, the 10-years-old violin prodigy Bacem Anas Romdhani, from the suburbs of Tunis, got the chance of a lifetime: he won the World Philharmonic Orchestra competition, where he was chosen to represent Tunisia/Africa/Arab World in the classical music domain, as part of the ‘Five Children of the World’. He was awarded the ‘Jean-Luc Lagardère’ scholarship to study with the international greats in his field.
This documentary follows him over the next four years, in which Bacem Anas travels to Paris, Brussels, Lyon & Switzerland for private lessons before finally being accepted at the prestigious International music school ‘The Yehudi Menuhin School’ in UK. Director Hichem Ben Ammar comments on the fairy tale-like aspects of Bacem Anas’ success in asides that evoke the Arabian Nights stories.
But ultimately, Bacem Anas’ story is first and foremost a portrait of his father Abderraouf. The trombonist and music teacher regards his son's achievements as the realization of his own broken dreams of musical success. Even before Bacem Anas was born, it was clear to his father that his son was to become a musician. Now the father must learn to live with the estrangement that his son's success will inevitably cause.
Credits
85 min — colour — video — Spoken Languages: Arabic, French, English
Director: Hichem Ben Ammar
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Production: Hichem Ben Ammar for 5/5 Productions
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Cinematography: Hatem Necchi, Abdessabour Belarbi, Anne Closset, Louise Purnell, Elodie Colomar, Rabii Messaoudi, Walid Mattar
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Editing: Inès Cherif
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Sound: Tarek Ben Ghzaïel, Aymen Braïek, Yazid Chebbi
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World Sales: 5/5 Productions
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Screening Copy: 5/5 Productions
Gallery
