Chris McKhool

Biography

Chris McKhool is a Canadian violinist, guitarist, composer, producer, filmmaker, and educator. As the leader and producer of the Canadian band Sultans of String, McKhool has built a career centred on fusing folk, jazz, and global musical traditions including Arabic and Flamenco styles. McKhool received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012, and in 2025 received the key to the city from Burlington’s mayor Marianne Meed Ward. His productions have received five JUNO Award nominations and seven Canadian Folk Music Awards. McKhool's work encompasses music, film, and education, with recurring themes of inclusion, environmental stewardship, and Indigenous reconciliation.

Early life and education

Born in Ottawa, Ontario, to a Lebanese father and a Lebanese mother who was born in Egypt, (his family name originally pronounced “Makhoul” in Kfirmishki, Lebanon), McKhool began studying violin at age seven and studied classical violin under Joan Milkson of the National Arts Centre Orchestra from 1977 to 1985. He also performed with the National Capital String Academy and learned folk guitar independently, learning from friends and other musicians. He attended Fisher Park High School on Holland Avenue in Ottawa. In 1987 he moved to Montreal to study at McGill University, obtaining a B.A. in psychology. McKhool moved to Toronto in 1993, studying jazz at York University.

Personal life

McKhool resides with his wife and daughter in Burlington, Ontario. He has received the 2025 Key to the City of Burlington, the 2022 Burlington’s Best Local Musician/Band designation, and a 2024 Burlington Performing Arts Centre Hall of Fame induction

Sultans of String

In 2004, McKhool co-founded Sultans of String in Toronto with guitarist Kevin Laliberté and bass guitarist Drew Birston, releasing nine albums and winning multiple awards. Other band members have included Rosendo 'Chendy' Leon, Saskia Tomkins and other special guests. The band incorporates Middle Eastern, Latin, European, and North American musical traditions. McKhool serves as the band’s violinist, composer, and producer.
The Sultans of String discography spans multiple genres and cultural influences. Their debut album Luna (2007) was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award, while Yalla Yalla! (2009) earned a JUNO Award nomination for World Music Album of the Year and a Canadian Folk Music Award for Instrumental Group of the Year.
In 2015 McKhool produced the Sultans of String's 5th album with JUNO Award-winning engineer John "Beetle" Bailey, entitled Subcontinental Drift. This album was made in collaboration with sitarist Anwar Khurshid; in 2016 the band toured across Canada, the United States and the UK with this formation, showcasing their collaboration. This album reached the Billboard World Music charts in 2017. Subcontinental Drift also received a JUNO Award nomination in the World Music category as well as their 3rd Canadian Folk Music Award for World Group of the year. Their following albums albums Refuge (2020) and Sanctuary (2021) addressed immigration and displacement, and inspired their UNHCR involvement.
In 2017 McKhool and Bailey co-produced a world music Christmas album with Sultans of String entitled Christmas Caravan. They toured across North America in support of the album, which was included in the New York Times Holiday Hits section and Spotify's Holiday Albums Hit List, as well as hitting the Billboard World Music charts at #6. Special guests included Richard Bona, Paddy Moloney (The Chieftains), Nikki Yanofsky, Ruben Blades, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Alex Cuba, as well as the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. His song "Sing For Kwanzaa" with collaborator Richard Bona won the 2017 Folk Music Ontario: Songs From The Heart Award and the 2017 ISC International Songwriting Competition: World category
His 2023 album, Walking Through the Fire, released on September 15, 2023, was recorded in collaboration with Indigenous artists including Northern Cree, The North Sound, Shannon Thunderbird, and Dr. Duke Redbird, in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action #83. The album features lyrics in Dene, Inuktitut, Sm’algyax, Cree, and Michif. As recognition of this project, McKhool was awarded the Dr. Duke Redbird Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Merilaïnen Music Awards as Indigenous Ally of the Year
Chris McKhool and Sultans of String are fundraising partners with the "UNHCR". Retrieved 2026-03-25.

Music Production

In his role as music producer with Sultans of String, McKhool has won Producer of the Year along with co-producer and engineer John 'Beetle’ Bailey in the 2023 Canadian Folk Music Awards with the CD entitled Sanctuary
, and Producer of the Year in the 2021 Canadian Folk Music Awards and 2020 Independent Music Awards for Refuge. McKhool was also nominated as Producer of the Year in 2012 in the Canadian Folk Music Awards, and again in 2018 with Christmas Caravan. He won the 2014 IMA Independent Music Vox Pop Award for Music Producer with Symphony!
Two Sultans of String tracks were also part of John Bailey’s Engineer of the Year nominations at the JUNOs, including in 2021 "The Grand Bazaar (featuring Bela Fleck and Robi Botos)" from the Refuge album, and a 2022 nomination with "Mi Santuario” (featuring Juan Carlos Medrano) from the album Sanctuary
His most recent album for children “Little Leaf” was released in November 2025 and is nominated for a 2026 JUNO Award in the Children’s Album of the Year category.

Film Production

McKhool has also worked as a filmmaker, writing, directing, and producing visual albums. His 2025 film production, Walking Through the Fire - Visual Album accompanying the music release features performances by Indigenous collaborators. His film production The Refuge Project – Visual Album (2020), mixed in Dolby Atmos, addresses displacement and inclusion, showcasing global artists including Ahmed Moneka (Iraq), Amir Amiri (Iran), and Syrian refugees Majd Sukar and Leen Hamo.

Tours and Performances

McKhool has performed as a solo artist and with Sultans of String at venues and festivals including Canada’s National Arts Centre, Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre, Koerner Hall, and JUNOfest, as well as abroad at New York’s Birdland Jazz Club, Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, Scotland, Folk Alliance in Memphis, Tennessee, and official Canada Day celebrations at London, UK’s Trafalgar Square.
His compositions have been performed with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Bangor Symphony in the US, as well as with many Canadian symphonies.
McKhool has also performed for young audiences. His 2008 children's album Fiddlefire! won the Canadian Folk Music Award for Children's Album of the Year, and was nominated for a JUNO Award.