Nassim Maalouf
Nassim Maalouf () (born 1941 in Kafarakab, Lebanon) is a classical trumpet soloist particularly known for his adaptation of the trumpet to Arabic music with the introduction of quarter tones on the instrument. Family Maalouf's brother is French-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf; their mother is Egyptian of Turkish origin and their father is a Greek Catholic. Maalouf's son, Ibrahim Maalouf, is a jazz trumpeter and composer. Career Maalouf studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with the great French trumpeter Maurice André, graduating in 1970. While he had by that time mastered the European classical trumpet repertoire he had for some time felt restricted by being able to play only in the major and minor scales. Although he wished to interpret the numerous Arabic modes (known as maqamat, singular maqam) on his instrument, he nevertheless found this quite difficult, as the necessary "half-sharps" and "half-flats" could only be obtained via the unreliable method of modulating lip pressure. Finally, Maalouf realized that adding to his trumpet a fourth valve half the length of the second valve would allow for the production of quarter tones. Maalouf worked for two years with the craftsman Michel Wikrikaz of the Henri Selmer company in Paris to produce