Cover featuring Ibrahim Maalouf

Ibrahim Maalouf wears an Yves Salomon jacket, Father & Sons shirt and trousers, Daniel Essa sneakers with a Montblanc timepiece.

With his unmistakable trumpet sound and genre-defying vision, Ibrahim Maalouf has become one of the most celebrated French-Lebanese musicians of his generation. Blending jazz, classical, and traditional Arabic music, he has carved out a space where cultures, histories, and emotions converge. From collaborating with icons like Sting and Quincy Jones to composing award-winning film scores, Maalouf has built a career that bridges East and West while remaining deeply personal. 

As he prepares for landmark projects, including what will be the largest instrumental jazz concert in history, he reflects on identity, resilience, and the universal power of music to connect people beyond borders.

Fashion Editor & Stylist: Victor Concepto
Photographer & Filmmaker: Yang Wang
Hair & Makeup Artist: Karine Marsac
Location: Hotel The Peninsula Paris

AM: Your music blends jazz, classical, and traditional Arabic sounds. How do you maintain a balance between your Lebanese heritage and your global influences?
Ibrahim Maalouf: I’ve never really seen it as “balancing” two different worlds. For me, it has always been one single identity. Growing up in France as a Lebanese child, I carried the sounds of my homeland with me: quarter tones, the voice of Oum Kalthoum, the rhythm of dabke. At the same time, I was raised in a classical conservatory environment, playing Bach and Ravel, and falling in love with jazz as a teenager. These influences never fought each other inside me; they blended naturally. The trumpet my father designed, with its extra piston for quarter tones, became my tool to bridge these universes. So rather than balancing, I would say I’m simply being honest with who I am: a global citizen with Lebanese roots and a French upbringing, expressing everything I carry within me.

AM: Do you start composing with a specific image, feeling, or is it purely instinctive? What inspires you to constantly push boundaries?
Ibrahim Maalouf: It’s always different. Sometimes a single image stays in my mind, like the silhouette of Beirut after the war, or the laughter of my children. Other times it’s a feeling that I cannot translate into words, only music can. And often, it is purely instinctive: I let my trumpet speak first, and then I follow its voice. What pushes me forward is curiosity. I never want to repeat myself. Life is too short to stay in the same place. Every project is an opportunity to explore new territories, emotionally and musically.

Timepiece, Montblanc. Total look, A.P.C. Sneakers, Daniel Essa.

AM: You’ve collaborated with artists from Sting to Angélique Kidjo. Which collaboration has challenged you the most creatively?
Ibrahim Maalouf: Every collaboration is a lesson. Working with Sting was a dream because he embodies timeless songwriting, and he gave me freedom while still keeping everything rooted in melody and storytelling. Angélique Kidjo challenged me with her boundless energy and her ability to connect tradition with the future. But perhaps the most intimidating moment was when Quincy Jones put his hand on my shoulder and told me he would be my manager in the United States. Imagine… Quincy Jones! The man who shaped Michael Jackson’s Thriller, who mentored generations of legends, and suddenly he’s guiding me. That was both terrifying and exhilarating. It pushed me to believe that my music could speak to anyone, anywhere.

AM: You’ve also scored films. How different is your creative mindset when writing for cinema versus for a live performance?
Ibrahim Maalouf: When I write for film, I’m in service of someone else’s story. The images dictate the pace, the emotions, the silences. My ego has to disappear. On stage, it’s completely different: I’m building a conversation with the audience in real time, and anything can happen. Both are thrilling, but film scoring is like whispering into the director’s ear, while performing live is like shouting your soul into the universe.

Jacket, Yves Salomon. Shirt and trousers, Father & Sons. Sneakers, Daniel Essa.

AM: What do you do when you feel creatively blocked?
Ibrahim Maalouf: I accept it. Creativity isn’t a faucet that you can open at will. Sometimes you need silence, you need to live, to love, to travel, to be bored even. Those moments of emptiness are precious because they prepare the ground for new ideas to grow. When I feel blocked, I remind myself that music is always there, it just needs time to surface again.

AM: You’ve played to audiences around the world. How do reactions differ between, say, Paris, New York, and Tokyo?
Ibrahim Maalouf: Paris feels like home: the audience knows my story, they’ve been with me since the beginning, so the energy is deeply personal. New York is electric, it’s the city where jazz was born, and you feel that every note you play is being measured against a century of history. Tokyo is pure poetry: the silence between the notes is as important as the music itself, and the respect of the audience gives you wings. Every city teaches me something new about how people listen.

Total look, A.P.C. Sneakers, Daniel Essa.

AM: Music often acts as a universal language. What message do you hope your music sends to the world today?
Ibrahim Maalouf: That identity is not about borders, it’s about connections. In a world obsessed with dividing people, I want my music to remind us that differences are beautiful and can create harmony. My message is simple: coexistence, empathy, and joy. Music should heal, not divide.

AM: How has your definition of success changed over the years?
Ibrahim Maalouf: When I was younger, success meant recognition, awards, being played on the radio. Today, it means impact. If my music helps one person feel less alone, if it inspires a young musician to embrace their roots instead of hiding them, that’s success. The rest, Grammys, Victoires de la Musique, sold-out venues, it’s beautiful, of course, but it’s not the essence. The essence is human connection.

Total look, Nodus.

AM: What advice would you give to young musicians trying to find their voice in a noisy, global music scene?
Ibrahim Maalouf: Don’t try to be fashionable. Don’t try to imitate. Dig into who you are, your childhood memories, your culture, your pain, your joy, and let that guide your sound. The world doesn’t need another copy of what already exists. It needs your truth, even if it feels strange at first. And above all: be patient. Authentic voices take time to be heard, but when they are, they resonate forever.

AM: What can fans expect from your upcoming projects or tours?
Ibrahim Maalouf: On April 10th, 2027, I will step onto the stage of Paris La Défense Arena in front of nearly 40,000 people. It will be the largest instrumental jazz concert in history. For me, it’s not just a concert, it’s a celebration of everything I’ve lived through: my Lebanese roots, my French journey, the musicians I’ve learned from, the legends who inspired me, from Sting to Quincy Jones. This night will be proof that instrumental music can fill an arena usually reserved for pop stars. It’s about showing the world that jazz, in all its forms, belongs to everyone. Beyond that, I have new albums and collaborations on the horizon, but this Arena concert is the summit I’ve been climbing toward my whole life.