Composer, violinist, oud player and singer Yair Dalal was born in 1955. His family came to Israel from Baghdad, and his Iraqi roots are embedded in his musical work. Whether working on his own, or with his Alol 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.

Over the last decade he has recorded 11 albums covering wide and varied cultural territory and authentically representing Israel’s cultures and fusing them through music as whole. Much of Dalal’s work reflects his extensive musical skills in both classical and Arabic music and also reflects a strong affinity he has for the desert and its habitants.

He has played in concerts worldwide, collaborated with top musicians from all over the world, from different disciplines, including: celebrated western classical conductor and Maestro Zubin Mehta, Jordi Savall and Hesperion XXI, L. Shankar, Hamza El Din, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Michel Bismuth, Ken Zuckerman, Alam Khan, Jim Santi, Armand Aamar, Shlomo Mintz, Maurice El Medioni, Mustafa Raza, Cihat Askin, Nagati Chelik, Ensemble Kaboul, Adel Salameh, Morwan Abado, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Kamerata Jerusalem Orchestra, Melmo symphonic orchestra, and many more.

Presented by the Music Department. Sponsored by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, the David B. Gold Foundation, and Jewish Studies at UC Santa Cruz. Staff support provided by the Institute for Humanities Research.