Naseem Alatrash

Naseem Alatrash is a Palestinian cellist, composer. Naseem's tone was described as  " a particularly lustrous tone" by Chicago Tribune.   Naseem's performances include a mix of improvisation and traditional melodies, with a focus on traditional Arabic music and jazz and contemporary classical music influence.

He has appeared at numerous international festivals, including the Newport Jazz Festival, the Dominican Republic Jazz Festival, Abu Dhabi Music Festival, Lebanon’s Zouk Mikael International Festival, Lebanon’s Beit Aldeen Festival, Aix-en-Provence Festival, and Jerash Festival. He has performed at such notable venues as the Kennedy Center, the Lincoln Center, the Lincoln Theater, Wigmore Hall, Koerner Hall, University of Michigan Ann Arbor Music Series, NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Center, the Royal Opera of Oman, The Royal Albert Hall, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. He has performed alongside world-renowned musicians, including Ron Carter, Roger Waters, Terri Lyne Carrington, Eugene Friesen, Kenny Aronoff, Rami Jaffee, Luis Conte, Javier Limon, Jorge Drexler, Alejandro Sanz, Scott Page of Pink Floyd, Carmine Rojas of David Bowie, Mike Garson of David Bowie, and many others.

 Alatrash has been awarded String Player of the Year twice from The National Music Competition of Palestine. In addition to his solo career, Alatrash performs with the Global Messengers ensemble with pianist Danilo Pérez and with Amir ElSaffar's Rivers of Sound ensemble as the cellist. 

Alatrash has received international acclaim from media around the world, for his musical arrangement/producing a cover of the Beatles song “Drive My Car.” As a collaboration with Public Radio International’s radio show The World and the Berklee College of Music, he arranged/adapted the Beatles song with an Arabic twist.

Alatrash studied at The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Palestine. He has both a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Cello Performance and a post master’s fellowship from the Berklee College of Music where he received a full presidential merit-based scholarship to attend. 

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