Le Trio Joubran (Samir Joubran)

Biography

Le Trio Joubran is a Palestinian oud ensemble formed by three brothers from Nazareth, Samir, Wissam, and Adnan Joubran, the first and most celebrated oud trio in the world. They descend from four generations of oud makers and players; their father is among the most renowned stringed-instrument makers in Palestine and the Arab world, and their mother sang the muwashshahat of Andalusia. Samir, the eldest, was born in 1973 and took up the oud at the age of five. Samir launched a solo career in 1996 with the acclaimed album Taqaseem, followed by Sou'fahm in 2001. For his third album, Tamaas, he invited his brother Wissam to join, and in August 2004, in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, Le Trio Joubran was born when the youngest brother, Adnan, completed the ensemble. The combination of three ouds, an arrangement with no real precedent, created a dense, polyphonic, almost orchestral sound that transformed the perception of what the instrument could do. Since their Paris debut, the Trio has achieved extraordinary international acclaim, performing at the world's most prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Olympia and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and major festivals across the globe. Backed by percussionist Youssef Hbeish, they have released a series of influential albums and built a devoted worldwide audience, becoming arguably the most internationally recognized Palestinian instrumentalists of their era. Their art is deeply intertwined with Palestinian identity and the work of Mahmoud Darwish; they composed and performed music for and with the great poet, and their concerts often serve as acts of cultural assertion, carrying the Palestinian story to global stages through the wordless eloquence of the oud. In 2019 they reached a vast new audience by collaborating with the British rock band Coldplay on the track 'Arabesque.' Wissam is also a master luthier, having trained at the prestigious violin-making school in Cremona, Italy, and he builds the very instruments the Trio plays, sustaining the family craft into a new century. This unity of making and performing gives the ensemble a singular authenticity. Le Trio Joubran's achievement has been to take a traditional Arabic instrument and, without abandoning its roots, place it at the heart of contemporary world music, redefining Palestinian instrumental music for a global audience while remaining unmistakably rooted in Nazareth.

Why This Person Matters

The world's first oud trio, they reinvented Palestinian instrumental music for global stages from Carnegie Hall to Coldplay, while remaining heirs to four generations of Nazareth oud-making.

Historical Context

Le Trio Joubran emerged from a Nazareth family of four generations of oud makers and players, with Samir, the eldest, born in 1973 into a household where the father crafted instruments and the mother sang Andalusian muwashshahat. Growing up as Palestinians inside Israel, the brothers inherited a craft tradition that itself encodes a continuous Palestinian presence across the ruptures of the twentieth century. The ensemble took shape in the diaspora — born in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris in 2004 — at a time when Palestinian artists increasingly carried their cause onto international stages. Their close association with Mahmoud Darwish situated their rise within the late, globalizing phase of Palestinian cultural assertion.

Historical Context

1. 1973 — Born in Nazareth, Israel

Selected Works

• Masar — A virtuosic oud composition from this trio of brothers, blending classical Arabic maqam traditions with contemporary tonal exploration in their signature style.
• Asfar — An album of original oud compositions that became an international breakthrough, showcasing the trio's collective voice and their ability to speak of exile through music alone.

Legacy & Influence

As the world's first oud trio, the Joubrans reinvented Palestinian instrumental music, creating a dense, almost orchestral polyphony that expanded the perception of what a single instrument could do. They became arguably the most internationally recognized Palestinian instrumentalists of their era, performing at Carnegie Hall, the Paris Olympia, and major festivals worldwide, and reaching a vast new audience through their 2019 collaboration with Coldplay on 'Arabesque.' Their wordless concerts function as acts of cultural assertion, carrying the Palestinian story to global stages, while Wissam's training as a master luthier in Cremona sustains the family's instrument-making craft into a new century. Their lasting achievement is to have placed a traditional Arabic instrument at the heart of contemporary world music without severing it from its Nazareth roots.

Topics & Themes

• Post-1967
• Diaspora

References & Sources

1. Le Trio Joubran — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Trio_Joubran
2. Le Trio Joubran — Bio & Career — https://letriojoubran.com/en/about-le-trio-joubran
3. Le Trio Joubran: Making The Oud Rock — https://www.npr.org/2011/06/22/137344584/le-trio-joubran-making-the-oud-rock