French of Moroccan origin (born in Jerusalem in 1953), Armand Amar spent his childhood in Morocco. Imbued with the sounds of instruments considered exotic at the time, the pull of that “world apart” exercised by extra-European music soon fascinated him. Autodidact, he was constantly searching for physical experiences in the early years of his musical apprenticeship, whereas in the following years his search became a commitment; he learned to play tablas, discovered the zarb and congas, and studied under various masters of traditional and classical music.
Armand’s discovery of dance in 1976, following an invitation from South African choreographer and trained anthropologist Peter Goss was another decisive moment. Suddenly what he’d been looking for was right there in front of him – a direct relationship to music, the power to improvise freely, the advantages of authentic, on-the-spot exchanges. Since then he has worked with various choreographers from the different branches of contemporary dance (Marie-Claude Pietragalla, Carolyn Carlsson, Francesca Lattuada, etc.). Two challenging new ventures broadened his scope even further: his involvement in Patrice Chéreau’s actors’ school and his teaching at the Conservatoire National Supérieur [Higher National Music School] focussed on the relationship between music and dance.
The musical and spiritual influences at play show through in his film scores, such as that of Costa-Gavras’ Eyewitness (2000), The Axe (2005) and Eden is West (2009), Radu Mihaileanu’s The Concert ( which made him win the French César/Best Soundtrack of the Year Award 2009) and Live and Become (2006), Rachid Bouchareb’s Out of Law (2010) and Days of Glory (Indigènes, 2006), Julie Gavras’ Blame it on Fidel (2006), Gilles de Maistre’s The First Cry (2007), Gilles Legrand’s The Maiden and the Wolfs, Diane Kurys’ Sagan (2008) or Yann Arthus-Bertrand's HOME (2009). Armand recently finished the scores of Radu Mihaileanu's upcoming film The Source, as well as the soundtracks for Free Men by Ismaël Ferroukhi and Tu seras mon fils by Gilles Legrand.
In 1994 in partnership with his friend Alain Weber, he founded the record label Long Distance for traditional, world and classical music; it now boasts more than 60 titles.
The CDs of his own music are released by naïve, Long Distance, and Universal.
Nominations and awards:
Eyewitness by Costa-Gavras: nominated for the César/Best Soundtrack of the Year Award 2003
Plus loin by Michelin, directed by Eric Valli: Special SACEM Award 2003 for the best original music
Live and Become by Radu Mihaileanu: nominated for the César/Best Soundtrack of the Year Award 2006
Days of Glory by Rachid Bouchareb: nominated for the César/Best Soundtrack of the Year Award 2007
The Concert by Radu Mihaileanu: César/Best Soundtrack of the Year Award 2009, nominated for the Etoile d'Or of the composer of the best Original Score Arward.
HOME by Yann Arthus-Bertrand: "Excellence in Scoring 2009", Best original score for a documentary feature Arward by The International Film Music Critics Association.
Van Gogh, Brush with Genius by François Bertrand: Achievement Awards 2009, Best Original Score.
