Rabih Abou-Khalil (ربيع أبو خليل), born August 17, 1957, in Beirut, Lebanon, is a Lebanese composer, oud player, and jazz musician. After studying Arab and Western music at the Beirut Academy of Arts, he fled the Lebanese Civil War in 1978 for Munich, Germany, where he studied flute with Walter Theurer while maintaining the oud as his primary instrument. Most of his recordings have been released through Enja Records, including albums such as Nafas (1988), Roots and Sprouts (1990), Al-Jadida (1991), Blue Camel (1992), Yara (1999), and The Flood and the Fate of the Fish (2019). His work features collaborations with the Balanescu Quartet, Kronos Quartet, and Kenny Wheeler. In 2002, he received an honorary certificate for the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik for his life's work, and in 2023 he won the German Jazz Award.
