Bio
Saber Bamatraf is a Yemeni pianist and music composer who has participated in both solo and group musical performances and projects. He is a self-taught pianist who does not read music, but has played music by ear since childhood.
Saber graduated with a Bachelor in Information Technology with Honors from the University of Utara Malaysia (UUM) (2013), in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen. He then worked for the humanitarian sector in security and operations management for seven years, while maintaining his voluntary community engagement in artistic, cultural and musical events.
Saber began focussing more on music composition on 2014, with the release of music pieces for his debut album Turning Point. He also began working to renew Yemeni folk poetic music through Yamaniat, a playlist he recently launched. Saber works to reconceptualise the Yemeni work spread throughout Arabia by focussing solely on instrumentals. This way, he attempts to represent the Yemeni musical legacy and heritage in a style that can be enjoyed worldwide.
Saber’s latest album release, Embrace from Edinburgh, is available on all digital platforms. It contains seven New Age tracks that Saber has composed since arriving in Edinburgh. In this album, he expresses the inspiration he has drawn from living in a peaceful environment, and the senses of courage and hope he has felt while immersed in the natural and historic Edinburgh landscape, after six traumatic years of uncertainty in a war-torn country.
Saber has been awarded an IIE-Artist Protection Fund (APF) Fellowship 2020-21 and in residence at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) - University of Edinburgh.
