Ahmad Al-Khatib

Following  in the footsteps of the great virtuosos, Mohie Eddin Haidar, Jamil Bashir and Munir Bashir, Ahmad Al-Khatib is a rising star as a Oud soloist, mastering the modern techniques of the Iraqi school of Oud performance – a style that transcends boundaries taking the Oud to areas never reached before in the classical style.

Ahmad was born in Jordan to Palestinian refugee parents, and he started to study the Oud with the Palestinian musician Ahmad Abdel Qasem.  He later enrolled at Al-Yarmouk University in Jordan where he studied music and Cello playing, graduating with honours in 1997.  During his studies, he performed with several oriental music ensembles such as the Al-Yarmouk Musical Quartet, and in Oud and violin duos with Dr.Tarek Ismail, performing in Lebanon, Turkey, Tunisia, Egypt and the Gulf States.

In 1998, Ahmad came back to his homeland, Palestine, where he assumed his responsibilities as a Oud and Cello teacher at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (ESNCM).  During his short tenure, he was instrumental in developing the Oriental Music Department at the ESNCM, later heading it until 2002.  He also established “Karloma” the ESNCM’s group, both composing some of its music and directing it, and in 2000, the ESNCM produced a CD bearing the same name. 

In August 2002, he was forced to leave Palestine and go back to Jordan due to the refusal of the Israeli occupation authorities to renew his work permit.

While in Jordan, Ahmad continues to work for the ESNCM, liaising between Palestine and the music conservatories in the Arab World.  He has also worked on as series of four oriental examination books, the first of its kind, to be adopted by oriental music students in Palestine and the rest of the Arab World. 

Ahmad has performed in the 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2002 Jerusalem Festivals organized by Yabous Productions annually. He has also given solo Oud performances in Jordan, Palestine, and in the occupied Golan Heights, Brazil Morocco, Turkey, Sweden, Switzerland and Sharja.

His first Solo Oud recording, SADA (Resonance) features Ahmad Al-Khatib performing mostly his compositions which he composed while under siege in Ramallah in April 2002.