He was a nine-year-old icon of the first intifada, a skinny, stone-throwing symbol of Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation.

Now, 29-year-old Ramzi Aburedwan is helping to lead a cultural revival in the West Bank

Aided by savvy music teachers from Ramallah to Boston to France, Aburedwan traded a young life of violence for the viola.

Instead of embracing what most likely would have been a comfortable European life in self-imposed exile, Aburedwan returned to Ramallah to establish Al Kamandjati, a music conservatory that now teaches hundreds of kids from Beirut to Hebron.

The school's operating credo: "He who works for the advancement of culture is also working against war."

This Christmas season, Aburedwan and Al Kamandjati wrapped up the year with a Baroque Music Festival that brought Bach and Handel to Jenin, Jericho and Jerusalem.

The festival featured a new youth choir made up of Muslim and Christian students who performed Christmas tunes in German in Anglican churches across the West Bank.

You can see some video clips of the performances here and here. 

Ramzi Aburedwan, far right, performs with visiting musicians at the Good Shephard Anglican Church in Nablus, West Bank on Tuesday, Dec. 16th, 2008 as part of a Baroque Music Festival.