Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Ramzi Abu Radwan (born 1979) is a Palestinian composer, arranger, educator; and viola and buzuq player. He is the bandleader of Ensemble Dal’Ouna and the Palestine National Ensemble of Arabic Music. He founded the al Kamandjâti music centre and has collaborated with several international and renowned musicians. He first studied at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music and then in the Regional Conservatory of Angers (France). Several documentaries have been made of his life, including Its Not a Gun (2005) and Just Play (2012). He is the main subject of the book Children of the Stone: The Power of Music in a Hard Land by Sandy Tolan (2015).
He was born in Bethlehem in 1979 and raised in the Am'ari refugee camp in Ramallah.
As an eight-year-old he participated in the first intifada and became an inspiration due to a widely-circulated photograph showing him poised to throw a stone at a tank. He lost a brother, a cousin and many of his friends during the intifada.
In October 2002 he founded al Kamandjâti ("the violinist") Association, which aims to bring classical music to impoverished Palestinian children.
In 2010 he founded the Palestine National Ensemble of Arabic Music, a 30 member ensemble which performs classical Arabic music and original compositions.
In 2012 he released his solo album, Reflections of Palestine, described by David Maine as folk-inflected instrumental music.
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Achievements and Awards
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