Naji Hakim

Naji Subhy Paul Irénée Hakim was born in Beirut on October 31, 1955. He studied with Jean Langlais (organ), Evelyne Aïello (conducting), as well as at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris - in the classes of Roger Boutry (harmony), Jean-Claude Henry (counterpoint), Marcel Bitsch (fugue), Rolande Falcinelli (organ), Jacques Castérède (analysis) and Serge Nigg (orchestration), where he won seven first prizes. He holds a teaching degree in organ from Trinity College of Music in London and ten international first prizes in organ and composition. In 1991, the Académie des Beaux-Arts awarded him the André Caplet Prize and in 2009 he won First Prize in the Sacred Music Composition Competition of the Cathedral of Monaco. From 1985 to 1993, he was the titular organist of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre, before succeeding Olivier Messiaen at the Church of the Trinity (1993-2008). He was professor of analysis at the Conservatoire National de Région de Boulogne-Billancourt (1988-2019). He is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London, an engineer at the École Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications in Paris, a member of the Consociatio Internationalis Musicæ Sacræ in Rome and an honorary doctor of the Pontifical University of the Holy Spirit in Kaslik, Lebanon. In 2007, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI awarded Naji Hakim the "Augustæ crucis insigne pro Ecclesia et Pontifice", for the excellence of his commitment and work for the benefit of the Church and the Holy Father. His works include instrumental pieces (organ, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, harp, guitar, violin, viola, cello, piano), symphonic music ( The Marriage of the Lamb, Hymn of the Universe, Lebanese Overture, Påskeblomst, Augsburger Symphonie , Three Basque Dances, five organ concertos, one violin concerto, one piano concerto, one txistu concerto) vocal music (oratorio Saul of Tarsus , cantata Phèdre , two Magnificats and four masses).

Naji Hakim is married to Marie-Bernadette Dufourcet , organist, composer and musicologist. They have two children: Katia-Sofía , poet, pianist and musicologist, and Jean-Paul , lawyer, pianist and composer.