Saleem Abboud Ashkar

Born in 1976 in Nazareth, Israel, pianist Saleem Ashkar is a double minority in his home country: he is of Palestinian Christian background. His younger brother, Nabeel Abboud Ashkar, is a noted violinist. Both brothers are alumni of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (the name is taken from an Arab-themed volume of poetry by Goethe), founded by conductor/pianist Daniel Barenboim in 1999 as a vehicle for promoting Arab-Israeli cooperation through classical music. Saleem Ashkar also had encouragement from conductor Zubin Mehta, who programmed a performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano ...