From the publisher: “This astonishing true story presents an “affecting viewpoint on life in Syria before and in the midst of extreme violence” (Booklist), offering a deeply personal and unique perspective on one of the most devastating refugee crises of this century. Aeham Ahmad was born a second-generation refugee—the son of a blind violinist and carpenter who recognized Aeham’s talent and taught him how to play piano and love music from an early age. When his grandparents and father were forced to flee Israel and seek refuge from the conflict ravaging their home, Aeham’s family built a life in Yarmouk, an unofficial camp to more than 160,000 Palestinian refugees in Damascus. As a devoted family, they waited for the conflict to be resolved so they could return to their homeland. Their only haven was in music and in each other, especially when another deadly fight overtook their asylum. Forced to leave his family behind, Aeham sought out a safe place for them to call home and build a better life, taking solace in his indestructible familial bond to keep moving forward. Heart-wrenching yet ultimately optimistic and told in a raw and poignant voice, The Pianist from Syria is a “deeply moving account of one man’s struggle to survive while bringing hope to thousands through his music” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).”
Panelist bios:
Deborah Amos is a Ferris Professor of Journalism in Residence at Princeton University. A longtime international correspondent, Amos spent much of her award-winning career at National Public Radio. Her reporting on the Middle East and refugees in the U.S. regularly featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, and All Things Considered. She recently covered the Syrian and Iraqi refugee crises, the economy in the Middle East, and the Arab youth surge. Previously she reported for ABC’s Nightline and PBS’s Frontline. Amos is the author of two books: Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile, and Upheaval in the Middle East, and Lines in the Sand: Desert Storm and the Remaking of the Arab World. She has won several major journalism honors, including a Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation, a George Foster Peabody Award, an Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award, and an Emmy.
Aeham Ahmad grew up as a Palestinian refugee in the Syrian refugee camp Yarmouk in Damascus. From the age of five he learned to play the piano, first at the Conservatory in Damascus, and from 2006 to 2011 he studied at the musical faculty of the Baath University in Homs. Yarmouk had been fought over by various parties in the civil war since 2013. In the course of acts of war, siege and hunger, the population decimated from 150,000 to 16,000 in 2015. During this time, he transported his piano on a trailer or pick-up and performed on streets and public places. Videos of these performances, often with children as an audience, were shared on social networks and his story received international media coverage. After the refugee camp was taken by the fighters of the „Islamic State“ in April 2015, they destroyed his piano during an inspection. In this situation, he decided to leave his home. He fled Yarmouk on August 2 and came to Germany via Izmir, Lesbos and the Balkan route in September 2015. In 2015 he received the International Beethoven Prize for Human Rights, Peace, Freedom, Poverty Reduction and Inclusion, which was awarded for the first time in Bonn. He made his first appearances in Germany at a concert for refugees and volunteers in Munich in October 2015 as well as a benefit concert for the Bochum refugee aid together with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra. Since then he has played many concerts all over Europe and in Japan.
Recorded on September 4, 2024.