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Faces of Palestinian Music

Immerse yourself in the vibrant world of Palestinian music, where melodies and rhythms interweave to form a rich tapestry of cultural expression.

  • 31 musicians
  • Born 1931–2002
  • 6 from Nazareth
An oud player with Ramzi Aburedwan's ensembleAn oud player with Ramzi Aburedwan's ensemble
Boys practising dabke in QalqilyaBoys practising dabke in Qalqilya
The courtyard of the Edward Said National Conservatory of MusicThe courtyard of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music
Photos: Michael Coghlan from Adelaide, Australia (CC BY-SA 2.0), Picture taken by Justin McIntosh (CC BY 2.0), Kbxxus (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons

About Music

Songs that crossed every border.

Palestinian music lives in wedding songs, dabke rhythms and the oud, and in songs that became anthems. In 1975 Ahmad Kaabour set Tawfiq Zayyad’s poem “Ounadikom” to music, and it has been sung across the Arab world ever since.

In Nazareth, Rim Banna sang traditional and children’s songs to audiences around the world, and the brothers Samir, Wissam and Adnan Joubran took the oud to stages across Europe as Le Trio Joubran. In 2013 Mohammed Assaf, who grew up in a refugee camp in Gaza, won Arab Idol.

The people in this path sing, compose and play, from classical oud to hip-hop. Their music keeps Palestinian voices on the radio, in the street and on the stage.

All 31 musicians

Every face in Music, from the earliest pioneers to the voices of today.

Born across the decades

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  1. 1930s
  2. 1940s
  3. 1950s
  4. 1960s
  5. 1970s
  6. 1980s
  7. 1990s
  8. 2000s

31 musicians

Showing 20 of 31