A first-of-its-kind original performance led by the Saied Nahmias family of poets, one of the last preservers of the piyyut and music tradition of one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world, the Damascus community. Alongside new arrangements for traditional poems, new melodies created by Ziv Yehezkel and Rabbi Mordechai Ashkenazi for rare poems by Israel Najara, who lived in the area between Safed and Damascus, will be presented for the first time. Featuring a musical ensemble of the finest artists in Israeli art music, alongside the Shirat HaDorot ensemble, which includes piyyutim from the Sa’id-Nahmias family.
vocals Saied-Nahmias family: Rabbi Mordechai, Rabbi Shlomo, Rabbi Uriel, Rabbi Michael, Rabbi David | Guest artist Ziv Yehezkel; violin Zion Badi, qanun Yaron Menashe, oud Dror Yehezkel, flute and ney Channani Zait, percussion Ariel Smith, guitar Yair Menachem, contrabass Evyatar Hermesh, arrangements Elad Gabbay, musical direction Shlomo Nachmias, artistic accompaniment Yair Harel, Yad Ben-Zvi
Photos:
Damascus — Photo by Shirat HaDorot
Ziv Yehezkel — Photo by Eyal Cohen
The Damascus Piyyut project is a collaboration between Yad Ben Zvi and the “Shirat HaDorot” initiative, with the support of the Ministry of Heritage.
2025 International Oud Festival
6–13 November, 2025
