Simon Shaheen

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Simon Shaheen (b. Tarshiha, northern Galilee, 1955) is a Palestinian-born oud and violin virtuoso and composer.

At the age of 2, Shaheen moved with his family to Haifa. He began playing the oud at 3, and the violin shortly thereafter. Following high school, he attended Tel Aviv University, earning degrees in Arabic literature and music performance. He later pursued further studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1980 he emigrated to the United States, eventually becoming a U.S. citizen.

Shaheen, a Catholic Arab, lives in New York City, where he leads an Arabic ensemble called Qantara. In 1994 he received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

In addition to his work in traditional and classical Arabic music, Shaheen has participated in many cross-cultural musical projects, including performing with Bill Laswell, Henry Threadgill, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and with Jewish klezmer musicians The Klezmatics.