(b Manchester, 7 Aug 1963). Palestinian singer, musician and musicologist. Her father came from Ya'bad, near Jenin, her mother from Nazareth, and Kilānī was born in England but brought up in Kuwait. She studied Western classical music as a child and started singing in public at an early age. After graduating in zoology from Kuwait University, she worked as a scientific assistant researcher. At the same time she built her reputation as a concert performer, at first mainly of jazz and then increasingly of Arab music. By the time Kilānī left Kuwait for London in 1989 she was a well-established performer. She has since built up an international career as a leading performer and researcher of Palestinian music. Her repertory includes traditional songs, improvisations and settings of contemporary Palestinian poetry. Through her workshops on music and dance for children, she communicates the Palestinian heritage to younger generations. She has given many concerts in Britain, and has toured North America, Europe and the Middle East. She has also worked as a performer, composer and adviser on numerous films, TV and radio programmes.
Kilānī's repertory and technique were influenced by the Lebanese singer Fayrūz but she has also drawn on and developed her Palestinian musical heritage including Arab maqāmāt. Her visits to Nazareth in the 1970s stimulated her interest in the music of Galilee, and in 1996 she started research into traditional music based on interviews with old women in Palestine and in the refugee camps of Lebanon.
SUSANNAH TARBUSH