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Music has been flowing in Isa Najem’s veins since birth, having grown up in a melodious household conducted by his father, the legendary and renowned military musician Major General Dr Mubarak Najem.
His musical education began at the age of six and over the years his passion for instruments and capturing emotions through music flourished, developing him into a recognised social media personality and a talented film score composer. He recently won the Los Angeles Cinematography Award for Best Original Music Score for his work in the Florence film.
When asked why he chose music as a career, the former Bahrain Bayan School student said: “This is a question that I have been asked a lot. Since the day I was born, it was the only language I felt most fluent at.
“I felt something unique and indescribable whenever I listened to music that resonated with me. My body would be enthralled with goose bumps and that transcendent feeling is what I want to transfer to other people.
“My earliest goose bump recollection was listening to my father’s music growing up. My father is a composer who was the first to write music for film, open a school for music and introduce orchestral music in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He is my idol and I decided to follow in his footsteps.”
Isa started with learning the oud at the age of six and as the years, went on, along with countless hours of practice; it led him to participate in concert performances and competitions all throughout high school. He won the Young Musicians of the Gulf competition several times in different categories and made it to the finals of Arabs Got Talent.
When it was time to apply for universities, Isa picked up the cello as he said: “No university would accept the oud as a primary instrument to study in a classical music programme.”
Within seven months from picking up the cello, he began to apply to universities.
“The oud gave me the proper Middle Eastern music education but the cello gave me the proper classical music education,” said Isa.
He received his Master’s in string performance from Boston University in the US and a Bachelor’s in music from Emerson College. He has performed at the Boston Symphony Hall as principal cellist and has performed for His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and His Royal highness Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in private concerts.
A turning point in his career was when Isa was asked to score his first film around 2017 which opened up new perspectives of music and storytelling.
“The world of film scores exposed me to digital composing, synthesisers, and multiple genres of music,” he added.
Since then he has scored multiple films, commercials, sonic logos, documentaries and custom music for fashion brands. He has been active on social media platforms such as on Instagram and YouTube as well and has composed music for various ads such as for Bank ABC, Hermes Eid Al Fitr and Bahrain Bourse.
He has participated in Spring of Culture and recently staged a workshop with the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities entitled Social Media for Musicians. He also held a workshop called Yala Speak Up by Suffolk University in Boston about being an Arab musician.
For further details, follow him on Instagram @isa.najem and on YouTube on Isa Najem.
