Ahmad Al Khatib was born in 1974 in a Palestinian refugee camp in Irbid, Jordan. He began his musical journey at an early age, first learning the violin at school before studying the oud (Oriental lute) under the guidance of the Palestinian musician Ahmad Abed Qassim.

After completing high school, he enrolled at Yarmouk University, where he studied musicology and Western classical cello with the Japanese cellist Moto Takao. In 1990 and 1991, Ahmad won first prize in several oud solo competitions.

Graduating with honors in 1997, he moved to Ramallah, Palestine, to work in the Department of Oriental Music at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Ramallah and East Jerusalem, later becoming the department’s director.

In April 2002, as the political situation in Ramallah deteriorated following the Israeli army’s invasion and the reoccupation of many Palestinian towns and cities, travel restrictions intensified. Due to these circumstances, Ahmad’s visa renewal was denied, and he was forced to leave Palestine that same year.

Despite this, Ahmad continued his collaboration with the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music from abroad. Together with the Conservatory and Birzeit University, he prepared and published five innovative instructional books for the oud and five collections of musical transcriptions by modern Arabic composers, titled Sharqiat, which have since become reference works for musical education.

In 2004, Ahmad received a scholarship to pursue further studies in Sweden, where he earned a Master’s degree in Music Education Methodology from the University of Gothenburg. Later that year, he released his first solo album, Sada (Resonance), featuring his own compositions that reflect feelings of exile and nostalgia.

Over the years, Ahmad has founded and led numerous musical groups and ensembles, beginning with Karloma in 1999 — formed with fellow teachers from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music — followed by Sabil with Palestinian percussionist Youssef Hbeisch, Samara with a group of Nordic musicians, Sada Trio, Bosphorus Orchestra, and several other projects blending diverse musical traditions with Oriental music.

He currently works as a lecturer at the Academy of Music and Drama at the University of Gothenburg, where he teaches Modal Music Theory, Ear Training, Analysis, and Ensembles (group performance and arrangement). In addition, he is a visiting lecturer at several music education institutions around the world.