Khoury, Houtaf (b. 1967, Tripoli-Lebanon)

Lebanese composer of mostly orchestral, chamber, choral, vocal, and piano works that have been performed in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Houtaf studied piano with Abdelhaq Masri before leaving to Ukraine where he studied composition with Yuri Ishenko at the National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv – (1988-97), where he earned his MMus with distinction in 1993 and his PhD in 1997 with Professor Ivan kotlyarevsky. His music has been performed in Belarus, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, El- Salvador, Cuba, France, Germany, Austria Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine, Qatar, Belgium, Norway, Spain, UK, USA, Greece, Cyprus, ..etc. In addition, he has written two books: "La Musique au Liban entre 1943-1985 " (1996, National Music Academy of Ukraine) and "Les Deux Tendances Stylistiques dans la Musique Symphonique Libanaise" (1997, National Music Academy of Ukraine). He collaborates with excellent orchestras , -chamber music ensembles and performers , among them The Bamberger Symphoniker, Ukrainian State Orchestra, The Kharkov Philharmonic orchestra, Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, Mannheim Chamber Orchestra, Lebanese National Philharmonic Orchestra, Wissam Boustany, Dimitri Ashkenazy, Joan Illuna, Ha - Na Chang, Pierre-Dominique Ponnelle, Juan Carlos Garvayo, Volodymyr Sirenko, Leonardo Muzii,Dante Quartet, Brodsky Quartet, Quartet Alter Ego, Members of Luzern Orchestra, Weimar Piano Quartet, Robert Plane, Joachim Kwetzinsky, Fadia Tomb El-Hage, Andrea Bischoff, Isabel Villanueva, and Tatiana Primak Khoury. The recordings of his flute concerto, flute sonata & third piano sonata on Nimbus Alliance & Grand piano/Naxos have been highly praised and received by the critics.