Prolific ethnic musician, composer, violinist, oud player, singer and teacher
Yair Dalal plays an important role in shaping the global world music scene. Over the last decades he has published 14 albums, covering wide and varied cultural territories, and authentically representing Israeli, Jewish and Middle Eastern cultures, and fusing them through music as a whole.
Much of Dalal’s work reflects his extensive musical skills in both classical-European, Jazz and Arabic music and also reflects his strong affinity for the desert and its habitants. Dalal’s family came to Israel from Baghdad, and his Iraqi roots are embedded in his musical work. Whether working on his own or with his Al Ol ensemble, Dalal creates new Middle Eastern music by interweaving the traditions of Iraqi and Jewish Arabic music with a range of influences originating from such diverse cultural milieus as the Balkans to India.
Apart from creating music, Dalal devotes his time to preserving musical heritages from becoming extinct – the Babylonian Jewish Iraqi musical heritage and the music of the Bedouins (the Sinai and the Negev desert nomads).
Dalal performed in concerts and festivals worldwide, including major venues such as New York Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Womad festivals from England to Australia and New Zealand as well as in a humble authentic nomad‘s desert tents. He collaborated with top musicians from different disciplines and heritage, and many orchestras.
Dalal participates and lectures in various musical educational institutes and universities in Israel and worldwide, permanently and as an artist in residence. Besides his musical endeavors, Dalal is a peace activist, devoting much of his time and energy to building bridges of understanding and creativity between different cultures and, in particular, between Jews and Arabs.
He performed at the Nobel Peace Prize gala concert in 1994 honoring the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat. Dalal has won several Israeli and international awards for his music and his contribution to Israeli music, and was nominated for a Grammy as part of Jordi Savall’s ensemble in 2000, and in 2003 by BBC World Music Awards for his musical achievements as best musician from the middle east. In November 2015 he received the Slotnik Confederation House Award for world music in Jerusalem.
In 2021, the Israeli Ministry for Culture and Sports awarded him the Yitzhak Navon Lifetime Achievement Award.
Homepage: https://www.yairdalal.com/