Musicיאיר דלאל

Yair Dalal

Yair Dalal is an Israeli musician and composer of Iraqi-Jewish descent who plays the oud and violin and works to connect Arabs and Jews through music.

born 1955Oud and violin musicThe peace song Zaman el SalaamArab-Jewish musical collaborationThe Al Ol Ensemble

Born: 25 July 1955, Israel
Occupation: composer, violinist, musician

Yair Dalal was born in 1955 in Israel

Yair Dalal was born on 25 July 1955 in Kfar Ata and grew up in Givatayim. His parents were Jews from Iraq. He studied violin and classical music as a child and heard Iraqi music at family events.

He served in the Armored Corps and played violin with Rami Fortis's band Zvuv during his service. Afterward he left music, lived in Sinai for a time and worked as a nature reserve inspector at Ein Gedi. After the First Lebanon War he returned to music and earned a teaching certificate from Levinsky College of Education.

He joined Kibbutz Samar in the Arava, taught music at the regional high school and began playing the oud. There he played with members of the Azazme Bedouin tribe. With Amnon Abutbul he wrote the peace song Zaman el Salaam, which he performed in Oslo in 1994.

From 1995 he worked as a full-time musician and recorded many albums, mostly with his Al Ol Ensemble. He toured Europe and the United States and has been a musical adviser to the Oud Festival. He founded the Almaya studio in Jaffa Port and a music center for peace in Samar.