Mostafa Saad, violin
Gandhi Saad, violin
Omar Saad, viola
Tibah Saad, cello

The Galilee Quartet is composed by 4 siblings: Omar, Mostafa, Tibah, and Gandhi (Saad family). Founded in 2011 in Galilee, the quartet embarked on the study of classical repertoire in 2021. The reason for the name which was their father Zaher’s idea, “You carry the Galilee proudly wherever you go, and don’t forget the Hatta (Kufiyyeh), wear it proudly in the concerts”. Those are the words that he always repeats to emphasise the importance of their identity in their work and the representation of the Palestinian people wherever they are.

The quartet took part in the Palestinian National Music Competition in 2012 and was awarded the first prize in their age category.

The quartet continued rehearsing and studying until the end of 2013 when the siblings got separated for the first time as a result of Omar’s imprisonment for conscientiously refusing to serve is the Israeli occupation army. After Omar got his freedom in June 2014 and got reunited with his viola, he received acceptance to study in the Istituto Superiore in Reggio Emilia, Italy. And since then, until this year, the siblings were separated in different countries for their musical studies. Omar finished his bachelor’s studies in Italy and moved to Scotland to study for his master’s degree in performance (viola) at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Mostafa started his bachelors’ studies in Russia then transferred to Reggio Emilia, Italy and graduated there where he is also doing his master’s degree, which he will finish this year. Tibah finished her bachelor’s degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is now in her first year of her master’s degree in Italy. Gandhi finished his bachelor’s degree in Geneve, Switzerland and is now in his first year of his master’s studies in Italy as well.

The quartet members met in the recent years during their academic and summer holidays and gave many concerts in the Middle East and Europe, such as Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Qatar. They all played as part of the Palestine Youth Orchestra, the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra, and many Palestinian and European ensembles for several years.

In 2021, the quartet members have become associated to the Ensemble Music Academies of Palestine.

The quartet is known for the diverse music it presents, as all its members play both Classical Western music and Eastern Arabic music as well. In addition, each member plays two roles in the ensemble: Omar plays the viola and Arabic percussion, Mostafa plays the violin and the Oud, Tibah plays the cello and sings, and Gandhi plays the violin and sings. For Western classical music the order is the classical quartet order with two violins, viola, and a cello, and for the Eastern Arabic music the order changes depending on the piece/song presented.

The quartet has several original compositions and a song by Mostafa and Gandhi, some with an eastern touch, some with western, and some in the middle of the two which show the influence as a result of growing up in their Arab Palestinian society listening and playing eastern Arabic music and studying western classical music.

In 2021, members of the quartet were united again in Reggio Emilia where Mostafa, Tibah and Gandhi are completing their musical studies in order to start their project that they’ve always wanted  with the quartet which is pursuing their studies together as a quartet for the first time on an academical level.