Ahmed Malek

Biography

Ahmed Malek (أحمد مالك), born March 6, 1931 in Bordj El Kiffan and died July 24, 2008 in Algiers, is an Algerian artist, musician and composer. Eldest of three brothers and a sister. At a very young age, he began working in factories to help his father provide for the family. Ahmed Malek's mother died when he was 12 years old. It was then that he decided to become a musician. After completing his schooling, he enrolled at the Algiers Conservatory. Very early on, he was recognized by his peers and won numerous international and national awards. The “First Prize for Arts and Letters for Composition”, in 1972, the gold medal at the “Panafrican Festival”, in 1976, and the “National Merit Prize for musical composition”, in 1987. He composed for television shows, documentaries and especially for cinema, film music. He was also interested in the use of new technologies in music (MAO, synthesis, etc.), thus ensuring a link between traditional Algerian music and a more modernist movement. Head of the Algerian Television Orchestra, Ahmed Malek represented Algeria in several international events such as the universal exhibitions of Japan, Canada, Cuba, Spain, in France at the Printemps de Bourges... Ambassador of Algerian culture through the world to represent his country of origin he later taught at the Algiers Conservatory and was the pioneer of electro-acoustic arrangements. By the late 1990s, his health began to deteriorate. Ahmed Malek died on July 24, 2008 at his home in El Mouradia, Algiers, at the age of 76, leaving two daughters Maya and Henya. In 2019 with the help of the musician's family, the German label Habibi Funk decided to reissue, in the form of a compilation, fourteen pieces by Ahmed Malek, including two versions of the theme from "Omar Gatlato" by Merzak Allouache. There will also be themes taken from the soundtrack of "Inspector Tahar's Vacation", the great public success of Moussa Haddad, of "Silence of the Ashes", the unique production of cinematographer Youcef Sahraoui, of "Autopsy of 'Un Plot' by Mohamed Slim Riad and 'Un Toit, Une Famille' by Rabah Laradji. The Algerian Cinematheque in Algiers paid tribute to him with a retrospective in 2021, “Ahmed Malek, the Algerian Ennio Morricone”, and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Algiers in 2019, “Planète Malek – A Retrospective”: an exhibition archives of composer and musician Ahmed Malek.