Our Story

Diwan Saz - דיוואן סאז - ديوان ساز 

Diwan means 'a group gathering.'  Saz is a musical instrument.  We are a multicultural band of nine Jewish, Christian & Muslim musicians who perform ancient music from Central Asia, Turkey, Persia, and the Holy Land - - promoting peace and understanding in the Middle East through music.

We marry together two great traditions that coexist in the region - that of Hebrew and Arabic music, The songs are sung together by Hamudi Gadir, Rabbi David Menachem, Tzipora El Rei, Lubna Sallame & Amir Shahsar whose powerful voices, rising at times above the instruments, demands almost undivided attention. Our music exists as a message of peace.

In the documentary Ten Questions for the Dalai Lama, His Holiness was asked how does he think peace can be brought to the Middle East.  He suggested that intercultural music festivals with people singing and dancing together is a good first step towards creating the friendships needed to help overcome the larger issues. The Diwan Saz Interfaith Ensemble embodies this philosophy through its repertoire of authentic folk and classical music of the Middle East performed by some of the most respected Muslim, Christian and Jewish musicians in the region.

The ensemble, led by Musical Director and Baglama musician Yohai Barak, has performed in festivals and venues throughout Europe, Israel, India and several prestigious festivals in the United States and Canada.  The band will be touring the U.S. this Spring from New York to California, including an appearance at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin Texas.

As musicians, artists and teachers, we combine our many years of commitment to our art and communities to bring a world-class level of music that exemplifies the power music has to unite people of different faiths and backgrounds.

Why We Need Your Help

Our group has been playing together for the past 7 years, and we have never made a professional CD.  Now, at a time when the world is rife with religious confilct, we would like to share our music in a way that uplifts people of all faiths and cultures, inspiring new friendships and creating possibilities for peace with our dialogue through music.

This CD can help bring these musicians together to create a new sound across borders.  The money will be used for recording musicians from different countries (Israel,Turkey, Iran and Greece).  There will be at least 15 musicians recording and playing on the CD.

We need money to pay for studio time, professional mixing, professional mastering, CD printing and graphic design. Your help will give us the possibility to also record in unusual places with special atmospheres.  We enjoy holding our performances in natural and sacred spaces, and would like to be able to record in the settings as well (caves, mosques, churches and synagogues.)

Here is a photograph from a performance we held in a cave in the Galilee, entitled Unfathomed Depths.