Chicago-based Award-Winning Palestinian-American Composer, Arranger & Multi-Instrumentalist Wanees Zarour
Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series. In this episode, we sit down with Chicago-based, award-winning Palestinian-American composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist Wanees Zarour to discuss his powerful new 2026 album Silwan and a life devoted to music. Deeply rooted in the traditions of maqam and jazz, Wanees has developed a compositional voice that transcends borders, blending Arabic, jazz, classical, and global music traditions into a bold and cohesive musical language.
Born into a family of musicians, Wanees began his classical violin training at the age of seven…
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