Hanna Khoury


Hanna Khoury is a Philadelphia-based violinist and violist trained in both Western classical and Arabic classical music. As the Music Director of the Arabesque Music Ensemble, he has led nationwide tours, performing traditional Arab music in major venues and universities. He is a violinist and Arab music advisor with Intercultural Journeys, frequently performing with cellist Ohad Bar-David.

Hanna toured with Lebanese superstar Fairuz and played lead violin with Iraqi singer Kazem Al-Saher, Grammy winner Youssou N'Dour, Mandy Patinkin and Cheb Khaled. In addition, he can be heard on several pop recordings including Grammy-nominated song "Beautiful Liar" (featuring Beyonce and Shakira), and "Love and Compassion" (featuring Paula Cole and Kazem Al-Saher).  He recorded strings for Shakira’s Grammy performance of "Hips Don’t Lie," and he has collaborated with musician/composer Kareem Roustom on multiple projects, including an Arabic jazz album with Al-Zafeer Ensemble.

Hanna was most recently the Music Director with Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture in Philadelphia. Through his work with Al-Bustan, he started the first Arab music concert series in Philadelphia.  In addition, he started the Philadelphia Arab Music Ensemble performing a wide range of classical Arab music repertoire. He is the recipient of several awards and grants including the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, the America Israel Cultural Foundation award, and the Qattan Foundation grant. He graduated magna cum laude with departmental honors from UCLA with bachelors’ degrees in Economics andin Music Performance, and obtained his master's degree in Music Performance from Temple University. Hanna completed his PhD in Ethnomusicology at the University of Pennsylvania in 2018.