Charbel Rouhana, one of the finest ud players in Lebanon. Born in 1965 in Aamchit (a town north of Beirut), Charbel pursued his music education at the Holy-Spirit University in Kaslib and obtained his Diploma in ud instrumentation in 1986 and his M.A. in Musicology in 1987.

One of his major achievements is establishing a new methodology in playing the ud. This method was published and adopted by the National Conservatory of Music and the Faculty of Music in the Holy Spirit University-where he has been teaching ud courses since 1986 till present. 

Charbel Rouhana has been performing live events since 1984, touring several countries, venues, and festivals. He also collaborated in composing musicals for choreographer Abdul Haleem Caracall's shows: "Elissa-The Queen of Carthage"-1995, "Andalusia-Lost Glory" 1997, and "Bleilit Kamar"-1999. Winner of several national awards, Charbel also won the first prize at the Hirayama Competition in 1995 in Japan, for Best Composition entitled "Hymn of Peace".

According to Charbel, Oriental-Arabic music is facing a renaissance period incarnated by traditional instruments especially the ud which is ancient and always related to traditional singing and classical instrumental Arabic music. Charbel's musical writings succeeded in transforming this Arabic traditional instrument into a multinational, modern instrument able to communicate with other cultures and music, with an emphasis on the Oriental-Arabic style.

He won the Japanese first prize at the Hirayama Competition for Best Composition entitled "Hymn of Peace" (1990), the “Murex d’Or” as the Musician of the year (2000) and he has been selected to participate in the French 2011 Babel Med musical forum.

Rouhana has composed different musicals for Caracalla, the famous dance band (2000 and 2 Nights, Bi Laylat Qamar, Andalusia, the Lost Glory et Elissa, Queen of Carthage) and he directed the first of Jadal, a duo of Marcel Khalife and has founded the Beirut Oriental Ensemble. He has also been the member of the Mayadine Ensemble originated by Marcel Khalife and he is today member of the Beirut Oriental Ensemble.

In a reference book of eight volumes, Rouhana is focusing on new “oud” playing techniques and styles and he is developing his own method that is currently taught on an international level. The fame of Charbel Rouhana and his performances are going for a long time through Lebanon’s boarders: Festival Francophonies métissées (Paris, 2001), Oud Festival (Tatwan, Marocco, 2000), Festival Novart (Bordeaux, France, 2003), Concert with Satoru Shionoya Unit (Tokyo, 2004), Jazz Festival (Dubai, 2010), International Beirut Jazz Festival (Beirut, 2010).

Ziba (Memory)(1992)

Salamat (Greetings) (1997)

Horizon (1998)

The Art of the Middle East (Arc Music, 2004)

Sourat- Trait D'Union (2004)

Dangerous (2006)

We Live, with various artists, 2006

Handmade (2008)

Oud Fusionista (2008)

The Handmade Concert, 2009, DVD

Doux Zen, 2010