Xelef Elyas (Part 1)

Xelef Elyas (1948-), a Êzîdî folklore singer from Shingal, grew up within the oral tradition. Omar's father was himself a singer and performer, deft with the tambûr. Omar began learning the craft at age 20, studying not only with his father, but with well-known folkloric performers of his father's generation like Xidêr feqîr and Qapal. He studied for only four years at primary school before poverty induced him to leave school and get his first job at a bakery in Mosul; he quickly added a second job at a bakery in Sinony. For singing Kurdish songs, the Ba'ath regime arrested him and released him only to be drafted with his friend Xidêr Feqîr. In the course of his military service, Omar was injured. Over the now five decades he has been performing within the Êzîdî oral tradition, he has traveled to 18 different countries: a feat for a boy born in Tel Banat.