Help acclaimed Palestinian oud player Nizar Rohana finish his new album

Nizar Rohana is an acclaimed Palestinian oud player, born and raised in Haifa, and now living in The Netherlands. He is currently finalising his new solo album, Safa, dedicated to his late father - but he needs your support to help finish the release.

I’ll share Nizar’s own words below:

“Hello everyone, my name is Nizar Rohana, I’m a Palestinian oud player and composer. 

As my faithful followers know, my solo oud album was supposed to be released last April. And I was actually planning to launch this crowdfunding campaign back in autumn 2023. 

But, unfortunately, since the ongoing war on Gaza has started, I like many people felt that life has stopped. And honestly, I had many moments of doubt about the meaning of creating music. That’s why I postponed most of my activity as a musician in the past months. And for a long time, it felt it was the right thing to do in these horrible days that we are witnessing. 

Eventually, I was convinced I came to realize that creating new music is extremely important, today more than ever, especially as a Palestinian musician. Music is not only about personal expression, it is about collective identity as well. I recently managed to make some progress with the album. The plan now is to release it in November 2024. So, together with my team, we are working very hard to match the deadline. 

In order to make this album happen, I will need the help of my fans, my friends, my family, and the people who follow and support me for many years. But also, the people who just discovered this campaign. You can select one of the rewards offered in the campaign, but you can also help by sharing this campaign in your circles.  

Below you can discover more on the music, on the team of people involved in making the album, and on the project’s budget. 

Thank you very much and I wish you all the best.

About the album

The past 10 years have brought some big moves and transformations in my life. I left Palestine and I moved away from a growing reputation locally and in the middle east. I settled down in the Netherlands. I had to and I am still adapting to a new culture and a new music scene. In parallel to figuring out the Dutch and European scene, I was busy with a PhD in artistic research which was very demanding but pretty much related to my art, and very rewarding in that sense. 

On a more personal note, my father passed away towards the end of the pandemic. I owe my passion to the oud and music to my late father. I was born and raised to the sounds and the sight of him with the oud in his hand. The oud was always a big part of our father-son relationship. Safa album is dedicated to the memory of my father Elias Rohana. 

About the music

I decided to name the album Safa. Safa has few meanings in Arabic. The main one for me is purity. But it also could mean fineness, or clearness. While it is easier to ‘impress’ with writing for and playing with other instruments or with a bigger ensemble, I find recording a solo album more challenging. It is as up-close, as intimate, and as personal as it gets. Pure and revealing. 

Safa includes 10 pieces. They are a mixture of new pieces, solo versions of pieces I released on the album Furat (Euphrates); specifically, the pieces Madar Hijaz and Mayadin.

The album also includes pieces that I created during my PhD studies in Artistic research. These pieces are based on the Taqsim genre (the improvisation genre in Arabic music) and that are inspired by the recordings of two of my oud heroes, the great Egyptian oud players and composers Muhammad Al Qasabji and Riyad Al Sunbati.  

My team

I’m working with a really special group of people and top professionals in their fields for the making of Safa and I really feel grateful to have them as part of my team. 

The album will be recorded by Fieke van den Hurk at Dearworld studios. Fieke is such a fine technician and a great musician herself. From past experiences with her, she has the ability to make the recording process so smooth and easy. 

Safa will be mixed by the renowned Palestinian musician Bishara Khell. Bishara is also involved as an artistic supervisor and he has a great role in this creation since the beginning. I feel blessed with Bishar’s presence in my life, he brings so much inspiration into my career.

The album will be mastered by Andreas Balaskas from Masterlab based in Berlin, one of the finest technicians and studios in Europe.  

Safa’s art work will be made by the great designer and visual artist Ivana Djukic. Ivana has a great sense of beauty, connecting between music, visuals and story. 

In today’s music industry, image and video content became an integral part of music production. That’s why I invited film creator Michel Gasco to work with me on the image and video contents of the album. Michel is a great musician himself and very familiar with my music. Michel’s addition to the project is invaluable as he is very tasteful in both fields of music and video making. 

Finally, Safa will be released by the Australian label Worlds Within Worlds. Led by the musician Lachlan Dale, the record label has been making a special effort to promote emerging musicians from the middle east and Asia minor.   

Of course, recording this project costs money - and making this album as good as it can be also means paying everybody involved fairly. Below is a breakdown of the project’s budget: 

While these costs total 9,650 USD, we are hoping to reach our goal of 7,500 USD. If you are able to support this project, I would very much appreciate it. 

I look forward to sharing this music with you all. Thank you.