In first, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Dudu Tassa to open Jerusalem’s Oud Festival

In an unexpected musical twist, frequent musical collaborators Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead and Israeli rocker Dudu Tassa will open this year’s Jerusalem International Oud Festival.

The two will perform songs from “Jarak Qaribak,” their 2023 album renewing classical Arabic love songs with singers from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Algeria, Egypt and Morocco, along with selections from Tassa’s albums.

The eight-day festival opens November 5; tickets are on sale via Bimot.

Greenwood, whose wife, Sharon, is Israeli, hasn’t performed in Israel since 2024.

The Radiohead guitarist has long collaborated with Tassa as well as with Arab artists.

A concert he and Tassa played in Tel Aviv in 2024 prompted a call from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to boycott Radiohead’s upcoming tour. The band had gigs canceled in 2025 amid pressure from the boycott movement against Israel.

In a Sunday Times interview last year, both Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and Greenwood took umbrage at fans’ calls for Radiohead to take a vocal position on the war in Gaza, and to pledge not to play in Israel. But the two were split over whether they would actually want to perform in the country.

Yorke said he wouldn’t play in Israel again while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in power. The band last performed in Israel in 2017, in Tel Aviv.

“I wouldn’t want to be 5,000 miles anywhere near the Netanyahu regime, but Jonny has roots there,” said Yorke. “So I get it.”

Greenwood, in The Times interview, called the entire situation “nuts.”

“The only thing that I’m ashamed of is that I’ve dragged Thom and the others into this mess — but I’m not ashamed of working with Arab and Jewish musicians. I can’t apologize for that,” he said.

He added that he had gone to anti-government protests in Israel, where he’d seen frequent invective against far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

“I spend a lot of time there with family and cannot just say, ‘I’m not making music with you f**kers because of the government,’” Greenwood told The Times. “It makes no sense to me. I have no loyalty — or respect, obviously — to their government, but I have both for the artists born there.”

The Oud Festival, under the artistic direction of Efi Benaya and produced by the Confederation House, is celebrating 27 years, with eight days of music, from November 5 to 12, and performances at three local venues: the Jerusalem Theater, the Khan Theater and the Confederation House.

The festival program includes 16 performances, international guests and original Israeli premiere productions.

Other first-time Oud Festival performances include songwriter and pianist Shlomi Shaban hosting musician Mark Eliyahu (composer of the AppleTV+ “Tehran” theme music) and the Kadosh Brothers, in their concert exploring oud, jazz, progressive rock and contemporary music.

Bassist and composer Avi Balali, from the beloved rock band Nekamat HaTraktor (The Tractor’s Revenge), will present a tribute performance to Yemenite music pioneer Ahuva Ozeri with singers Efrat Gosh, Hila Ruach, Ruth Dolores Weiss and Galia Hai.

Jazz pianist Omri Mor will jam with percussionist and singer Shlomo Bar, inspired by the Algerian tradition of Andalusian music.

Three masters of Indian classical music, Grammy Award winner and bansuri flutist Rakesh Chaurasia, sitar player Purbayan Chatterjee and tabla player Ojas Vaidya will perform together.

Percussionist Itamar Doari will premiere his latest compositions ahead of the release of his first album, and oud players Wassim Odeh, Taiseer Elias, Charlie Sabah will all return for individual concerts at the festival.

The festival will close with a performance by Teapacks and the Hafla and Hora Orchestra, featuring hits of the beloved Sderot-founded band and its lead singer, Kobi Oz.