Wanees Zarour

Wanees Zarour (he/him) is an award-winning Palestinian-American composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist steeped in Middle Eastern music and jazz traditions. His compositional and arranging styles transcend borders, drawing from traditions spanning the entire globe. He is a community leader who believes in creating an environment that is conducive to artistic expression and collective music making.

Hailing from a musical family, Wanees started his musical training at the age of seven at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Ramallah where he learned Western classical violin and buzuq, a long-necked string instrument often played in the Eastern coast of the mediterranean.

His virtuosic buzuq performance, deep knowledge of Middle Eastern music, and boundary- pushing composition and arranging styles have allowed him to perform, record, and collaborate with renowned artists across the globe. He also serves as a faculty member at the University of Chicago, the renowned Arabic Music Retreat, GLOMUS, and frequently holds masterclasses at universities across the U.S. His compositions have been commissioned for orchestras worldwide and featured in film and theater.

For two decades, Wanees has maintained a focus on bringing communities together through music and creating a robust musical ecosystem that centers the global traditions represented in Chicago and the U.S. He leads multiple musical projects that have become a vital part of Chicago’s music scene.

Since 2010, Wanees has directed the Middle East Music Ensemble at the University of Chicago, continuing a tradition of cultivating a community of musicians. The ensemble has grown it into a 70-piece orchestra focused on performing the Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) musical traditions. Serving as a national cornerstone/incubator of the MENA music community, it engages most MENA musicians in Chicagoland, and many renowned artists from the U.S. and MENA region. This orchestra has invigorated this community’s artistic expression, deepened connections to cultural roots, and enriched Chicago’s music scene.

In 2014, Wanees released his well-received debut album, Quarter to Midnight, and founded the Wanees Zarour Ensemble, showcasing his diverse compositional toolbox and blending elements from several musical traditions such as Jazz, Brazilian, Middle Eastern and Western classical. The project performed in several cities in the United States in 2015.

Wanees also co-directs the Chicago Immigrant Orchestra, which he re-established with Fareed Haque in 2020. Now a non-profit organization, the orchestra merges musical traditions from around the world in a 14-piece rotating group of masters in various traditions and instruments, covering all continents. The orchestra serves as a platform for Chicago’s immigrant communities to contribute their musical language and heritage authentically in a cohesive musical framework that expresses the collective immigrant experience.

In 2018, Wanees launched “East Loop,” a jazz septet that focuses on the intersection of the Arabic music tradition and jazz. The septet plays Wanees’s original compositions and is slated to release an album in 2024.