Yair Harel (Jerusalem) is an expert on traditional Jewish repertoires, specializing in classical and modern Middle Eastern and North African music. He studied zarb (Persian drum) with Roger Yshay and the Persian master Daghmeshid Chemirani in Paris as well as Persian classical music with Peretz Eliyhau, Andalusian music from Morocco with Rabbi Meir Attyah, and improvisation with Israel Prize recipient Andre Hajdu in Israel. He has participated in several multimedia productions based on encounters between traditional and contemporary music, including the Oman Chai ensemble that created the performance “Writing from Within” for the Israel Festival (2004). Yair is one of the founding members of the Singing Communities Project and is the manager and chief editor of invitation to Piyut. He is married to Meirav and they have two boys.