Who Am I
Tareq Jabarin is a maker of clarinets and other woodwind instruments, such as the oboe and saxophone, as well as traditional Eastern instruments including the nay, mijwiz, and yarghul. From an early age, he began learning to play the oboe at the Al-Kamandjati Association, where he developed a deep curiosity about instrument making, driven by his personal need to repair his own instrument. During that period, a German tourist who was a musical instrument technician visited the Al-Kamandjati Association and volunteered to repair several instruments. Tareq Jabarin accompanied him and learned from him the basic principles of instrument repair and maintenance. He later traveled to Germany and then to France, where he specialized in the maintenance and manufacture of woodwind instruments at the Institut Technologique Européen des Métiers de la Musique (ITEMM) and at Université du Maine. He also studied international trade. Following his studies, Tareq Jabarin worked in Palestine and France, led training workshops in musical instrument making in Lebanon, and founded his own music production company. Today, he is considered one of the most important woodwind instrument makers in Palestine and the Arab world—if not the only one. He meets the needs of the Palestinian market and supplies approximately 40% of the demand within the Palestinian territories inside Israel. Demand for his high-quality instruments is steadily increasing in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries. In 2018, Tareq Jabarin received the Palestinian Youth Cooperative Award for Entrepreneurship – the Munir Al-Kalouti Award for Young Entrepreneurs, in recognition of his initiative “Jabarin for Music Production.” He has also taken the initiative to develop tracking and estimation systems for woodwind instruments and actively supports music institutes by promoting the recycling and extended use of instruments. By 2024, Tareq Jabarin had manufactured more than 800 instruments, at an average rate of approximately 11 instruments per month. For many years, he served as Palestine’s representative in the International Clarinet Association. He has crafted clarinets for some of the world’s leading performers, including Hüsnü Şenlendirici, Ghassan Abu Haltam, Wissam Khassaf, and others.