Ramzi Aburedwan
رمزي أبو رضوان
Born: Bethlehem, Palestinian Territories
Domain: Music
Recognition: GLOBAL
Biography
Ramzi Aburedwan, who grew up in the al-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah, is a Palestinian violist, oud player, composer, and music educator whose life story has made him a powerful symbol of cultural resistance. A child of the First Intifada, he was famously photographed as a boy throwing stones at Israeli tanks before discovering music and transforming his life through it. Introduced to the viola through a music program in the West Bank, Aburedwan went on to study at conservatories in the United States and France, mastering the Western classical tradition while deepening his command of Arab music. This dual training shaped a vision of music as both art and instrument of social change, and he resolved to bring to Palestinian children the opportunities that had transformed his own life. In 2000 he co-founded the Dal'Ouna Ensemble, named after a beloved Palestinian folk genre, performing music that fuses Arab and Western traditions and carries Palestinian song to international audiences. His ensembles have toured widely, presenting a sophisticated, joyful image of Palestinian culture far removed from the reductive frames of news coverage. Aburedwan's most far-reaching achievement is Al Kamandjati ("The Violinist"), the music school he founded in Ramallah in 2002 to provide musical education to children in refugee camps and villages across the West Bank and in Palestinian camps in Lebanon. The institution has trained thousands of young Palestinians, built music as a fixture of community life under occupation, and become a model of cultural resilience celebrated worldwide. Through performance, composition, and above all education, Ramzi Aburedwan has turned his own journey from stone-thrower to musician into a movement, embodying the conviction that music can sustain dignity and identity under the harshest conditions. His work has earned international recognition and made him one of the most inspiring figures in contemporary Palestinian music.
Why This Person Matters
From a stone-throwing boy of the Intifada to an internationally touring musician, he founded Al Kamandjati and has given musical education to thousands of Palestinian children, making music a model of cultural resilience under occupation.