Majed Ajamia

Majed Ajamia (Oud, Qanun) learned to play the oud in his home country of Palestine, where he began intensive study at the age of 25 under the tutelage of William Hagopian. Since his arrival in Chicago in 1991, he has performed in a number of public and educational settings geared toward sharing in the experience of Middle Eastern music. On several occasions he has performed at the Chicago Cultural Center for a reception hosted by Mayor Daley in honor of Arab Heritage Month. Other public performances have included annual events at the Egyptian Consulate, as well fundraising events at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute. He has also participated occasionally in the University of Chicago's Middle Eastern Music Ensemble, which performs classical, neo-classical, and popular music from across the Middle East at concerts open to Chicago's general public.

Mr. Ajamia has also found avenues for sharing his skills and introducing the oud to Chicago's student community. In 2002-2003, under the auspices of the "After School Matters" program, he taught a class called Middle Eastern rhythms for students at Sullivan High School (in collaboration with Issa Boulos).
In 1995, he composed the music for, and performed in, a play organized by North Park University called "The Longing," which captured Palestinian oral histories and personal experiences from 1948 to the present. Most recently, in 2007 Mr. Ajamia participated in the "Music for the Screen" program at Columbia College. His role was to introduce students to Arabic maqam, and help them find ways to incorporate the oud into music composition for the screen