Waheed Soroor
Waheed Soroor was born in 1971 in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan. Being the son of two established Cinema, Theatre, TV and Radio artist parents Mazida and Khan Agha Soroor, he caught on to music at an early age. At the age of 8 he performed for school concerts at Said Noor Mohamed Shah Mina School in Karte Now. Waheed and family moved to India in 1982, where he sang as the lead singer for his school in over 5 large concerts.
In the spring of 1987, Waheed and family moved to Canada where he teamed up with his two brothers Walid and Wais Soroor and performed as the lead singer for the first Afghan musical group in Toronto called Caravan in 1988.
Waheed, then, joined his brother Walid Soroor and started a very successful group called king of hearts or Sultane Qalbha where he assumed the role of the keyboard player while he continued his post secondary education at York University in Toronto. Waheed and Walid, toured throughout Canada, the US, and Europe and performed in cities like Hamburg, Bonn, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington DC, Baltimore, Virginia, Nashville, Philadelphia, and New Jersey among others. Having Afghan music in his blood, over the years Waheed expanded his horizons and developed a special interest for music from the middle-east.
Waheed was very successful as a keyboard player and played with the likes of Hangama, Seema Tarana, Shadkam, Jawad Ghaziar and Walid Soroor among others Afghan artists. Waheed returned to singing in 2004 and released his first CD titled lets dance in December of 2005. Much to his surprise, the CD was quite well received by his fans both Afghan and Iranian. Since the release of his CD, Waheed was invited to perform at several Afghan Functions including; the 25th anniversary of the Ontario Afghan Association in 2006, the CHIN International picnic (an event held in Toronto, Canada, where artists from different nations represent their art and culture) and several fundraising events organized by local Afghan University students including one for the University of Kabul and One for Afghan children.
One of the reasons for Waheed Soroor’s success has been his natural ability to sing in different languages and with different accents. Waheed Soroor can sing Pashtu like the Pashtuns, Hindi like the Indians, Iranian like Iranians and Spanish like the Spanish and of course Dari which is his mother tongue. And yes Waheed can also sing in English.
Waheed gets his motivation for Afghan music from the late Afghan legend Ahmad Zahir, Farhad Darya and Amir Jaan Saboori who have employed energy, emotions, creativity and professionalism to represent their art and their country. Waheed gets his motivation for Iranian music from Googoosh, Omid and Moen.
Waheed’s most recent projects include a new CD which will be released at the end of 2006, singing three songs alongside Hangama and Shadkam, for the upcoming Afghan movie Ehsas, which will be released soon and arranging an album for Hangama.
Waheed’s new CD titled “Soroor” promises to be better than the first one. It contains 12 new songs composed by Waheed himself, his brother Wais Soroor, Idris Sazdozai and Khan Afgha Soroor. The songs and the lyrics reflect the beauty and diversity of the Afghan culture with songs about Shamali, Heart, Badakhshan, Panjsher and Hazarajaaton. It also includes beautiful Pashtu and Dari songs. Waheed promises that this CD will make you dance till you drop. Music arrangement has been done by Waheed.
In addition to his musical talents, Waheed Soroor also holds an Honors degree in Biochemistry and Bachelor of Education with honors and is currently teaching chemistry in Canada. Waheed Soroor is also involved in the Afghan community and has volunteered his time as a consultant and as an artist on several occasions, which has earned him respect from his fellow Afghans in Toronto. Waheed recently coordinated an extensive project about the needs of Afghan Youth in Toronto, a project funded by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services in Toronto. Waheed was subsequently interviewed by the Toronto Star and the CBC radio to shed more light on the matter.
Waheed is a strong believer that music brings people of the world together! And he asks for you to support each other and your artists. As he puts it, “Together we grow as a community and society”
Waheed Soroor Official Website
Waheed Soroor Videos
Waheed Soroor Music
Contact Waheed Soroor
Waheed Soroor On YouTube
Waheed Soroor’s Hazra Video
