The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music ( ''Ma`had Edward Sa`īd al-Waṭaniy lil-Musīqā'') is a
Palestinian
Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine.
*: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...
music
conservatory with branches in
Ramallah
Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...
,
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
,
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
,
Nablus
Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...
and
Gaza City
Gaza City, also called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Port of Gaza, Palestine's only port. With a population of ...
. In total, there are more than 1,000 students. It was established in 1993 as The National Conservatory of Music, with its first branch in Ramallah, opening in October of that year.
In September 2004, the name of the conservatory was changed to The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in honor of the Palestinian music critic and intellectual
Edward Said
Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...
, the accomplished classical
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...
and scholar of international studies, and a founder and benefactor of music for east–west dialogue (see the
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and
Barenboim-Said Akademie).
Orchestras and ensembles

The ESNCM administrates the
Palestine Youth Orchestra and the
Palestine National Orchestra, in addition to a number smaller projects. The recently formed
Palestine Strings ensemble performed with
Nigel Kennedy
Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and viola, violist.
His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and has since expanded into jazz music, jazz, klezmer, and other music genres.
Early life and ...
in 2012, and toured the US in 2011. Its youth orchestra - the PYO - has performed in
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
,
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
,
Bahrain
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
and
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
. It enjoys the support of international partner institutions including the
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
The Oslo Philharmonic () is a Norwegian symphony orchestra based in Oslo, Norway. The orchestra traces its roots to the Philharmonic Society founded in 1847 and the Christiania Musical Association co-founded by Edvard Grieg in 1871, and was esta ...
. The ESNCM's professional orchestra - the PNO - formed in December 2010, has performed in
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
,
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
and
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
. Both orchestras have an agenda of promoting music by living Arab composers. The ESNCM Orchestra, the only Palestinian symphony orchestra performing in Palestine today where all the musicians are drawn from the local communities, promotes concerts throughout the year in the main Palestinian towns and cities. It performs an eclectic mix of film western classical music, opera, arrangements of Arabic music, and film music. The ESNCM has several resident Arabic music ensembles, student and professional, which have toured throughout the world, and its students have taken part in collaborative projects with well-known international musicians.
Festivals and concerts
In addition to administrating two major festivals, the ESNCM promotes concerts of Arabic, western classical, and jazz music throughout Palestine at all times of year. It is responsible for the annual Arabic music
Layali Tarab fi Quds al Arab festival, and the mainly classical
Jasmine Festival
Jasmine (botanical name: ''Jasminum'', pronounced ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family of Oleaceae. It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are wide ...
.
Background
In 1990, five Palestinian musicians and music teachers conducted a study on the status of
music in Palestine upon a request by the Welfare Association. The preliminary findings of the study convinced the team that there was an urgent need to establish a music school to fill the huge gap in music education within the Palestinian society. In 1993, after three years of concerted efforts by these musicians, and with the support and encouragement of friends, foremost amongst whom were Edward Karkar, Munther Nabulsi, Huda Khoury and Linda Khalil Khoury, the conservatory was launched as the National Conservatory of Music, falling under the umbrella of the Board of Trustees of
Birzeit University
Birzeit University () is a public university in the West Bank, Palestine, registered by the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs as a charitable organization. It is accredited by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Mini ...
, who offered the Conservatory premises in the University Board building in Ramallah and appointed the following founders to the Supervisory Board at the Conservatory: Salwa Tabri, Rima Tarazi, Amin Nasser, Nadia Abboushi and Suhail Khoury.
In October of that year, the first branch of the Conservatory opened in Ramallah. There were 40 students, three part-time teachers, a secretary, and a volunteer director – one of the co-founders, Amin Nasser. A few years later, the Conservatory opened two other branches in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. And in summer of 2010 the launch of Nablus branch. In September 2004, as a tribute to the late Edward Said, an honorary member of the Board, the name of the Conservatory was changed to The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music.
Branches
There are five branches of the ESNCM, located in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Nablus and Gaza City (inaugurated in 2012), with over 1,000 students altogether. Each Branch has its own academic director and administrative manager who handle the day-to-day running of their schools. This setup makes room for the future opening of new branches on one hand, and on the other hand, it guarantees the same level of education and services to the students and community in whichever city the ESNCM has or opens a branch.
Academic programs
The ESNCM offers two programs of study - the regular and the amateur program.
"The Regular Program"
The music program of study at the ESNCM has been designed to give regular students a broadly structured instrumental and theoretical musical education. It consists of three levels:
#The Preparatory level. This is not a mandatory level.
#The Elementary level.
#The Intermediate level.
After completing the three levels successfully, students will be eligible for a diploma that will qualify them to the university level program at the ESNCM (not open yet), which will train them to become professional musicians.
The Regular Program
consists of training in a Western or Arabic instrument, with examinations in 8 grades, each of which can be completed in a maximum of 20 months. It also includes theory, ear training, and history and appreciation of Arabic, classical, jazz and world music. The program also emphasizes group playing, choirs and group Arabic percussion.
The Amateur Program
Private lessons are also offered to amateurs and music lovers without having to comply with the regular curriculum or to sit for exams. In some cases amateur students may register for other group courses subject to the approval of the teacher of the course, and provided that the student is at a level at which he/she could benefit from it. Students in the amateur program do not get credit or certificates for classes and courses that they have attended.
External links
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Music schools in Palestine
Bethlehem
Education in Jerusalem
Educational institutions established in 1993
Universities and colleges in Palestine
1993 establishments in Palestine
Edward Said