Ronnie Malley

Biography

Ronnie Malley, Oud, is a multi-instrumentalist musician on oud, guitar, keyboards, and percussion, a theatrical performer, producer, and educator. He has collaborated with international artists, composed and consulted for many cultural music projects in film and theater, appeared as a guest artist on several works, and is executive director of Intercultural Music Production in Chicago. Ronnie began his professional career at the age of twelve performing Middle Eastern and North African music at weddings, restaurants, and festivals with his father and brother in the family band. Over the next thirty years, he expanded his musical palette learning other global music styles from India, Spain, and the Balkans. Ronnie has performed with the music groups  Allos Musica , Apollo’s Fire, Diwan Al-Han, EMME (East Meets Middle East),  Lamajamal ,  Mucca Pazza , Newberry Consort, Surabhi Ensemble, Yves Francois & Rocambu Jazz, and the U of C Middle East Music Ensemble. 

As a theatrical performer, he has worked on regional and international theatrical productions with renowned award-winning directors including Mary Zimmerman, David Cromer, and Aaron Posner. His credits include: Layalina, The Jungle Book, Mirror of the Invisible World (Goodman Theatre); Mo (Netflix); Little Syria co-creator (Brooklyn Academy of Music); The Band’s Visit (North American Tour | Broadway Tony and Grammy Award winning); Macbeth (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); The Shroud Maker, The Sultan’s Dilemma, The Castle and the Sparrow (International Voices Project); Scenes From 73 Years (Medina Theatre Collective); American Griot co-author (MVCC/Silk Road Rising | Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Award 2020); A Disappearing Number (Timeline Theatre); Great Expectations (Silk Road Rising/Remy Bumppo | Jeff Nominated for Best Original Music), Ziryab, The Songbird Of Andalusia author and solo

performer, Obstacle Course (Silk Road Rising); The White Snake (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Arabian Nights (Lookingglass, Arena Stage, Berkeley Rep Theatres). ​As an educator, he has worked as a teaching artist with Chicago Public Schools, Global Voices Initiative, and Chicago Arts Partnership in Education, was a faculty member at Old Town School of Folk Music and the Chicago Academy for the Arts, and is a frequent guest lecturer at universities. Ronnie has a BA in Global Music Studies from DePaul University and a MA in Languages (Arabic and Hebrew) from the University of Chicago, where he is currently an Ethnomusicology PhD student. He was awarded the 2023 Michael Jaffee Visionary Award from Chamber Music America and is a member of Actors Equity Association and the American Federation of Musicians. Ronnie’s mission is to help people learn about cultures through music and the arts to foster an understanding of global citizenship.