Ahmed Harfoush has been singing since 17 years of age after singing in Luxor, Egypt on a family holiday, after which his father encouraged him to join a choir in Cairo. Ahmed started learning music under the guidance of his first choirmaster, Grieg Martin who led the Cairo Singers, a choir rehearsing at the Italian Cultural Center in Cairo.

Afterwards he established Twelve Strings, a rock ‘n’ roll band performing at the American University in Cairo's (AUC) Ewart Hall in the early 90's.

He joined AUC's Osiris Singers under Music Professor Larry Catlin's guidance, where he performed excerpts from Broadway musicals, classical and renaissance music and jazz standards, when his interest in jazz started. He became director of the Osiris Singers, later after the death of his professor Catlin and continued the legacy.

 

Ahmed joined the AUC Cairo Choral Society in 1995 and has been the choir's tenor soloist in musical works such as Handel's Messiah, Schubert's Stabat Mater, Dvorak's Mass in D and Mozart's Solemn Vespers till 2000.

 

Harfoush received vocal training and breathing methods with Dr. Raouf Zeidan, Dr. Larry Catlin, David Hales and Carol-Ann Clouston in Cairo.

With a growing interest in jazz, Ahmed joined a music group called "Riff" after several performances at Cairo Jazz Club. Since then he took the group to another level and established what is known now as "The Riff Band", performing at many Cairo music venues as well as corporate and embassy functions. The Riff Band is now one of the leading jazz ensembles in Egypt.

 

Ahmed performed jazz in Paris, Great Britain, Slovenia, Budapest, Damascus, Dubai and Prague.  In 2009, he sang with the Chris Byars Jazz Quartet from New York City at Marmar Cafe in Damascus and on the Jazz Boat cruising on the Vtlava River in Prague. He performed the Cole Porter Songbook at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with pianist David Patrick and double bassist Ed Kelly in 2011 at the Edinburgh's Jazz Bar as well as a private function in Budapest overlooking the Danube in 2012. He performed in many private functions and parties around the United Kingdom in London, the Cotswolds, Bath, Margate, York, Edinburgh and Linlithgow. Ahmed performed with the South London Jazz Orchestra in August 2012 singing tunes from the Great American Songbook.

 

Harfoush studied Musical Theatre at London's Mountview Academy for Theatre Arts, learning more about acting, dancing and singing under the guidance of some of the best theatre tutors in the West End.

 

Ahmed co-produced and performed in Sing Sing Sing, a jazz event in summer 2009 at one of Downtown Cairo's veteran theaters reviving the 1940s music scene in collaboration with the Divinas, a top cabaret act from Barcelona and the Spanish Embassy in Cairo. He produced and initiated the first Rat Pack Show in Cairo in May 2010 at the Sawy Culture Wheel, paying tribute to Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. He produced and performed in the 2012 Frank 'n' Ella Show at Sawy Culture Wheel. 

 

Ahmed has now established a new jazz ensemble in Cairo, Ahmed Harfoush & The Jazz Project since late 2012.

 

He teaches voice privately and at established international schools, music studios and community centres in Cairo. 

Harfoush co-founded the celebrated Cairo Jazz Festival with pianist and jazz musician Amr Salah back in 2009 with a major congregation of interntional jazz bands and a series of workshops and lectures, which led to the formation of the Jazz Society of Egypt. Its members are provided with jazz-related information, workshops, lectures and film screenings.

 

Ahmed is currently the chairman of the Jazz Society of Egypt.