Qais Essar

Last updated

Qais Essar
Qais Essar.jpg
Essar in 2000
Background information
Occupations
Instruments
Labels
  • Worlds Within Worlds
  • Ghost Songs
Award 2018 Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song
Website therabab.com

Qais Essar is an Afghan-American musician, composer, and producer based in Phoenix, Arizona. [1] He primarily plays the rubab, composing music that combines traditional with modern styles. He has released several solo albums as well as collaborative recordings and film scores, for such productions as The Breadwinner (2017) and Three Songs for Benazir (2021). [2] [3] With Joshua Hill, he co-wrote the song "The Crown Sleeps" for The Breadwinner; it won them a Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song in 2018.

Contents

Discography

Albums

YearAlbum
2014The Green Language
2016Tavern of Ruin [4]
2017Live from Toronto with Neelamjit Dhillon
2018The Ghost You Love Most
2024Echoes of the Unseen [5]
2024Mehfil Baby [6]
2025Sangat [7]
2026A Line Between Hearts [8]

EP

YearEP
2015I Am Afghan, Afghani Is Currency [9]
2017I Am Afghan, Afghani Is Currency, Vol. II: Beltoon [10]
2018Misc Vol 1 [11]
2019I Am Afghan, Afghani Is Currency, Vol. III: Zahir [12]
2020Shakar Shack, Vol. 1: Gulaab Jammin' with Absolute Focus [13]
2024Shakar Shack, Vol. 2: Gas Ghazaler with Absolute Focus et al. [14]
I Am Afghan, Afghani Is Currency, Vol. 4: Koh-i Baba [15]
2025I Am Afghan, Afghani Is Currency, Vol. 5: Love Songs [16]

Singles

YearSingle
2015"Klasik" [17]
2016"The Thaw"
2019"Khoda Buwad Ham Rahet, Pt. 2"
"Letters to My Best Friend" [18]
2020"The Waves" (feat. Chris Trinidad) [19]
"Syzygy" (feat. Alam Khan) [20]
"Kista Man Rahnaward" (feat. Yalda Mohsen)
"An Ode to Who We Were" (feat. Anupam Shobhakar & Neelamjit Dhillon)
2021"On Solitude" [21]
2023"Strange Village" with Alam Khan [22]
"My Whole Heart" [23]
2024"Ba Ishq Tu"
"Ya Zamani" Alsarah feat. Qais Essar [24]
2025"Lal Meri Pat" with Sonny Singh (feat. Sandeep Singh)
"Vich Sangat" with Sonny Singh (feat. Robin Ryczek)
"Pavan Guru" with Sonny Singh
"Kabaram Raseeda Imshab" with Sonny Singh
"Rich" with Joseph Rabjohns

Filmography

Essar's screen work spans animated features, documentaries, and short films. He composed the music for "The Crown Sleeps", featured in the 2017 animated film The Breadwinner . The song was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Original Song [25] and won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song in 2018. [26] [27] [28]

Essar also composed the original score for the Academy Award-nominated documentary short Three Songs for Benazir (2021). [2] [29] His later work includes Kabul, City of Dreams (2025), for which he composed the original score; the film won Best Soundtrack at the Night of Shorts that year. [30]

YearFilmContribution
2017 The Breadwinner Composed the music for "The Crown Sleeps"
2021 Three Songs for Benazir Composer – original music
2025Kabul, City of DreamsComposer – original score

References

  1. ↑ "Qais Essar Turns Ancient Afghan Music into a Time-Traveling Experiment of Sound". Phoenix New Times , January 11, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Nguyen, Chantal. "Composer and musician Qais Essar". The Saturday Paper. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  3. ↑ Kalia, Ammar (October 9, 2024). "Review: Qais Essar's new albums push the rabab into new territory". Hyphen. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  4. ↑ Tavern of Ruin by Qais Essar on Apple Music, July 15, 2016, retrieved October 29, 2026
  5. ↑ "Client Challenge". qaisessar.bandcamp.com. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  6. ↑ Mehfil Baby by Qais Essar on Apple Music, November 1, 2024, retrieved October 29, 2026
  7. ↑ "Client Challenge". qaisessar.bandcamp.com. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  8. ↑ A Line Between Hearts by Qais Essar on Apple Music, July 10, 2026, retrieved October 29, 2026
  9. ↑ I Am Afghan, Afghani Is Currency – EP by Qais Essar on Apple Music, March 3, 2015, retrieved October 29, 2026
  10. ↑ I Am Afghan, Afghani Is Currency, Vol. II: Beltoon – EP by Qais Essar on Apple Music, March 17, 2017, retrieved October 29, 2026
  11. ↑ "Qais Essar – Misc Vol 1". discogs.com. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  12. ↑ I Am Afghan, Afghani Is Currency, Vol. III – Zahir – EP by Qais Essar on Apple Music, March 14, 2019, retrieved October 29, 2026
  13. ↑ "Client Challenge". qaisessar.bandcamp.com. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  14. ↑ Shakar Shack, Vol 2: Gas Ghazaler – EP by Qais Essar, Absolute Focus & Neelamjit Dhillon on Apple Music, August 2, 2024, retrieved October 29, 2026
  15. ↑ I Am Afghan, Afghani Is Currency, Vol 4: Koh-I Baba – EP by Qais Essar on Apple Music, April 12, 2024, retrieved October 29, 2026
  16. ↑ I Am Afghan Afghani Is Currency, Vol 5: Love Songs – EP by Qais Essar on Apple Music, October 10, 2025, retrieved October 29, 2026
  17. ↑ Klasik – Single by Qais Essar on Apple Music, March 3, 2015, retrieved October 29, 2026
  18. ↑ Letters to My Best Friend – Single by Qais Essar on Apple Music, October 25, 2019, retrieved October 29, 2026
  19. ↑ The Waves (feat. Chris Trinidad) – Single by Qais Essar on Apple Music, March 20, 2020, retrieved October 29, 2026
  20. ↑ "Client Challenge". qaisessar.bandcamp.com. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Client Challenge". qaisessar.bandcamp.com. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  22. ↑ Strange Village – Single by Qais Essar & Alam Khan on Apple Music, May 5, 2023, retrieved October 29, 2026
  23. ↑ "Client Challenge". qaisessar.bandcamp.com. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  24. ↑ Ya Zamani (feat. Qais Essar) – Single by Alsarah on Apple Music, June 1, 2024, retrieved October 29, 2026
  25. ↑ "70 Original Songs Vie for 2017 Oscar". oscars.org. December 18, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  26. ↑ Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (March 12, 2018). "Maudie, The Breadwinner, Hochelaga, Land of Souls, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, Kim's Convenience, Alias Grace and The Amazing Race Canada Among 2018 Canadian Screen Awards Winners". PR Newswire . Cision . Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  27. ↑ "Music alum wins Canadian Screen Award for best original song | ASU News". news.asu.edu. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  28. ↑ "'Breadwinner' Takes Home Four Canadian Screen Awards". Animation World Network. Retrieved October 29, 2026.
  29. ↑ "Three Songs for Benazir | Palm Springs International Film Festival".
  30. ↑ "Award of September – December 2025 – The Night of Shorts" . Retrieved October 29, 2026.
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