Saeed Nathan

Saeed Nathan was born in Bombay, of Iraqi and Yemenite parents. He studied at the Sir Jacob Sassoon High School. He has always loved Indian music and learnt to play Indian flute when he was 10 years old.

At the age of 15, Saeed left India to live in Israel, and performed on flute at school concerts and on Israel Radio (Kol Yisrael). A highlight was a concert at the Mann Auditorium, Tel Aviv, when he organised and accompanied a vocal group, composed of friends from India, performing Indian songs. His repertoire has been mainly songs from Indian movies and Middle Eastern music.

Saeed has lived in London since 1960. He worked as a London bus driver for some years, and later, as a licenced London cab driver. Saeed met Sara Manasseh at Regents Park, London, at Cultural Co-operation’s Sacred Voices Music Village, where Rivers of Babylon was performing. It was then that he decided that he would like to join the group on flute. He now has an assortment of flutes, including Bedouin, Druze and Indian flutes, in his collection.