Dr. Louis Brehony is an activist, musician, researcher and educator, and a preeminent global scholar of Palestinian music.
His first book was published on AUC Press in 2023. Palestinian Music in Exile: Voices of Resistance presents the social history of Palestinian displacement through musical stories. Louis is the director of the award-winning documentary film Kofia: A Revolution Through Music (2021) and has published widely on Palestine and political culture in the Palestine Chronicle, Middle East Monitor, Arab Media and Society, and a range of other journals.
Following journeys through Britain's alternative, folk and jazz scenes, Louis has since dedicated his performance skills to the buzuq, a long-necked string instrument prominent in countries surrounding Palestine. He is particularly influenced by Syrian players Muhammad Abdel Karim and Mohammed Osman, and by the experiences of over 20 years researching Palestinian music.
Louis received his PhD from Kings College London and a master's in composition from the University of Salford. He has family origins in Ireland and lives in Manchester, UK.