The Galilee Quartet

Description

A Just Walk to Jerusalem event.

Featuring music by Beethoven, Fairuz, Carlos Gardel and more.

These dynamic teenage musicians from the Galilee perform a richly diverse, sparkish and soulful programme of Oriental and Western music for strings and voices with infectious charisma and flair.

When 16-year old Palestinian violin prodigy Mostafa Saad played with Nigel Kennedy at Bethlehem Unwrapped at St James's Piccadilly in January 2014, his older brother Omar, viola player in the Galilee Quartet, was in prison for refusing military service in Israel.

As a Palestinian Druze family with Israeli citizenship, the Saad brothers are eligible for conscription. Omar's Facebook letter to Israel's prime minister went viral in 2012.

His only weapon was music, he wrote, “I will not be the fuel to the fire of your war." Later, in an interview with the Evening Standard, he said, “I can't imagine myself playing music with my friends, and the next day with the IDF at the checkpoint, humiliating them. This [orchestra] is my second family. I can't replace my instrument with an assault rifle that can kill my own brother…"

The Saad brothers, Omar (viola), Mostafa (violin) and Ghandhi (violin), shot to international prominence at the 2013 BBC Proms, appearing with Nigel Kennedy and the Palestine Strings, and winning the hearts of audience and critics alike.
“Hauntingly beautiful" was The Independent's verdict, while BBC Music Magazine praised their “Mesmerising Arabic style… sinuous, silky-toned melismas from violin, viola and voice… projecting like melancholy muezzin calls into the hall."

Playing his viola solo was the easy part, said Omar, “But when Mostafa played and Ghandhi sang, my heart was beating fast." The warmth of their bond as siblings and musicians embraces their 18-year old cellist sister Tibah, who completes the Galilee Quartet.
These dynamic young musicians from Meghar village, near Nazareth, perform a wonderfully diverse, sparkish and soulful programme of Oriental and Western music for strings and voices with infectious charisma and flair.

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