Biography

Noma Omran earned a degree in voice for opera and harp performance in 1977 from the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus, later specialising in voice at the Orléans Institute of Music in France (1996-7). She obtained a diploma in opera voice from the Janáček Institute in Brno, Czech Republic (2001) and presented many concerts with the Czech National Orchestra. Omran began her study of Oriental music under the instruction of Muhammad Qadri Dalal and his ensemble. She worked in the theatre as a singer, actress and composer, and has performed across various venues in Holland, France, Canada, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan and Kuwait. She also excelled in the performance of Syrian texts and took these performances on the road to worldwide. Omran established a historical precedent when she became the first woman in the world hosted at the Zen ritual at the Daitoku-Ji Temple in Japan.