Singing in Gaza

Available for over a year

Amid the rubble, in makeshift tents, children in Gaza are singing and practising the violin, guitar and traditional instruments such as the ‘oud. The sessions are organised by the local branch of the Palestinian national music conservatory, which still operates, outside its damaged premises, despite the destruction of teachers’ and students’ homes. Why - and how - do they go on singing? And what does music mean to them now? Tim Whewell reported from Gaza in 2015 on the rescue of the territory’s only concert grand piano after a previous war. Now, he finds out how musicians he met then are living and working through this war. He learns about a boy who started playing the violin after he lost his hand in an airstrike. And he finds out about the second near-miraculous survival of the grand piano. Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Editor: Penny Murphy (Photo: Mohammed Abu Aideh lost his hand in an airstrike but now plays violin. Credit: Jaber Thabet/Edward Said National Conservatory of Music)