Tareq Abboushi & Zafer Tawil

Tareq Abboushi is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and bandleader. Born and raised in Ramallah, Palestine, he graduated with honors from William Paterson University in New Jersey with a degree in Jazz Piano. He has played buzuq since 1997, and has performed with such notable musicians as Simon Shaheen, Omar Farouk Tekbilek, and Dan Zanes. His teaching career includes Arab-music lecture demonstrations at Columbia University, NYU, Juilliard, Museum of the City of NY, the Children’s Museums of Brooklyn and Manhattan, and Alwan for the Arts. For the academic year of 2008/09, Abboushi taught Arab music at Agder University and the Conservatory in Kristiansand, Norway. His participation in film scores include the award-winning Encounter Point (Best Musical Score, Bend Film Festival, 2006), as well as two films by Jonathan Demme: Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains and Rachel Getting Married. His discography includes One with his band SHUSMO, Amir ElSaffar’s Two Rivers and Dan Zanes’s Parades and Panoramas, House Party and Night Time!, winner of Amazon.com’s Best Children’s CD (2002). Current projects include a new album, Mumtastic, with SHUSMO.

Jerusalem-born Zafer Tawil is an accomplished Palestinian musician whose areas of expertise include the oud, violin, qanun, and Arab percussion. Zafer performs across the US and in the Middle East and holds workshops in oud technique and Arabic music theory. He was part of the Spirit of Fez U.S. Tour 2006 and has performed with some of the most celebrated world music artists, including violinist and oud master Simon Shaheen and Rai singer Cheb Mami. Zafer is continuously exploring the boundaries of Arab music, and has worked collaboratively on many concerts involving classical Indian and Persian music, as well as Jazz fusion. You can catch Zafer playing one of his many instruments at extravagant private celebrations near his Brooklyn neighborhood, and at cultural centers such as Alwan for the Arts in Manhattan.