Saif Al-Khayyat was born in Baghdad, where he studied classical Iraqi and Arabic music at the Conservatory, specializing in the Arabic lute, the Oud. He trained under renowned musicians such as Rawhi Al-Khammash, Salem Abdul Karim, and Majid Abdul Razzaq. During his studies, he was a soloist in the youth orchestra “Amasi Al Sharq” and composed pieces for the church choir in Baghdad. In 1998, he left Iraq and made Germany his new home, where he continued his musical studies and research.
In Leipzig, Saif Al-Khayyat founded the jazz band “Ho-Jazz,” blending Iraqi and Oriental music with jazz. Since 2002, he has collaborated with German percussionist Nora Thiele. In 2014, they released their first joint album, Babylonian Dreams. In 2015, the duo won the Creole World Music Prize in Berlin for Best Duo. His goal is to bring Iraqi and Arabic music closer to European audiences. He conducts workshops and lectures on the Arabic lute and the theory of Arabic music. In 2015, he performed as a soloist in the Trier Jazz Opera Blue Sheets, directed by Stefan Bastian, and in the opera Crusades by Ludger Vollmer at the Freiburg Theatre.
In 2016, Saif Al-Khayyat composed his first stage music for the theater project Odyssey, which was recognized as one of the ten best theater productions in Germany. In 2023, he founded the T`arabBach Quartet, which focuses on classical Arabic music while forging connections with European classical music and modern compositions. Saif Al-Khayyat has performed numerous concerts across Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and Turkey. In 2016, he completed his training as a music therapist at the IEK Institute in Berlin. Today, he works as a soloist, composer, and music instructor at various schools through the Ministry of Family, Women, Culture, and Integration in Rhineland-Pfalz. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in “Music.World – Cultural Diversity in Music Education” at the University of Hildesheim.