Bio

Ahmed Karam

Composer/Conductor

Ahmed Karam is a New York-based composer, oudist/guitarist, conductor and improviser who seeks to bridge the gap between folk music and contemporary styles. Through years of music making in local ensembles, Ahmed wrote for a variety of genres, including electronic dance, rock bands and singer-songwriter. With a home in both film and the concert world, Ahmed composed the music for director Alyssa Mullings’ short film, I Love Anna, and premiered in October, 2021 at the REEL Recovery Film Festival and Symposium in Los Angeles’s Laemle NoHo and New York’s Village East Cinema.  Ahmed has conducted and composed original works with the Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica and the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra. His music has been performed in Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, Skidmore University, and abroad in Europe, Asia and the Americas . Ahmed has studied composition at The Juilliard School, receiving his certificate in composition from the Evening Division, and he has a degree in Fine Arts and Music from Saint Peter’s University. He continued his studies at the Mostly Modern Festival, EAMA, HighScore, LAFCI, and as a bartender in the nyc nightlife - the greatest education of all. Currently, he is a Masters student at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, studying under Oscar Bettison. 

Born in Manhattan with his twin sister to Egyptian immigrant parents, Ahmed and his family went to Egypt for the first five years of life. Upon returning to America, his family set up camp in New Jersey, where Ahmed would grow up, slowly but surely picking up American culture. Everything from colloquialisms to radio hits were fair game to a curious first generationer and, much in the same way that Ahmed and his sister replaced their toddler-level arabic with a more sophisticated command of English, his appreciation of his roots were sidelined as soon as he discovered the Beatles, rock music, and the guitar. Spending hours at the local music shop after school practicing without ever actually owning an instrument, family friends donated Ahmed’s first guitar when he was ten years old. This brought a whirlwind of music discovery as Ahmed began the journey from self taught music to, ten years later, formally studying music. 

When Ahmed was 20, he was running late and was barred entry to the New Jersey City University graduation ceremony where his friend was performing the piano. Ahmed snuck upstairs and, with his ear against the door, heard an orchestra for the first time. The musicians were performing Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance. Initially not recognizing the scherzo, Ahmed experienced transcendence and tears when the famous graduation theme came on, instantly recognizing the melody but never hearing it in its original context. Wiping off the tears from his eyes, he made the decision: it was time to study music. 

From self-taught to rock bands, to academia, Ahmed has found comfort in examining the classic Egyptian songs he’d hear his parents play throughout his childhood. In a way, his foray into music composition had inspired him to rediscover his own culture, and create a mold out of his unique experience.