In 2019, Yousef Alreemawi; a Palestinian-Australian musician and intellectual, founded the ensemble after he realized instrumental classical Arabic music is under-represented in Victoria, and named it after the beautiful concept of Tarab.

Tarab is an Arabic word that, while difficult to translate, encapsulates the pleasure and joy one gets from great, often classical Arab music. In his book about music in the Arab world, Dr AJ Racy said, 'In Arab culture, the merger between music and emotional transformation is epitomized by the concept of Tarab, which may not have an exact equivalent in Western languages.