You are welcome to ask Aeham Ahmad for an event. There are several options for doing this:
- solo concert
- solo concert with readings
- ЯEVEAL
- Aeham Ahmad & Edgar Knecht Trio
- Aeham Ahmad Barcelona Quartet
- Aeham Ahmad Trio
- Sadaqa
- Music for Peace (special offer for schools)
To inquire, please use the form on the contact page.
solo concert
Aeham Ahmad attracted international attention by playing the piano amid the ruins of the embattled Yarmouk Palestinian camp near Damascus. In the refuge that he has found in Europe, he allows his listeners to participate in musical integration: his concert program allows oriental folk songs, western sounds and his own compositions to flow together. The focus is on pieces from his debut CD „Yarmouk“, which Aeham Ahmad always changes with improvisations depending on the concert atmosphere – no concert sounds like the other, every concert is unique. The concert program lasts about 70 minutes plus a 15-minute break (and encores). – In Germany Aeham Ahmad received the Beethoven Prize in 2015 and the World Music Prize “Creole” in 2017 (together with the Edgar Knecht Trio), in Italy he was awarded the Adriatico Mediterraeno Prize in 2018. – A sample of a possible program is available for download as a PDF here: PDF solo concert
solo concert with readings
„Und die Vögel werden singen“ tells the story of Aeham Ahmad, the pianist who put his piano on the street in the middle of the destroyed Yarmouk in Syria and made music for the starving people. This story begins long before the war. It begins where he got to know the music, loved and hated it – and finally made up with it. The reader gets a very personal insight into Aeham Ahmad’s early career. Even non-musical people get a feel for the hard work behind his talent. In addition, the reader gets to know Syrian society, learns to look at it with different eyes and recognizes the light-hearted as well as the ugly in it. The corrupt political system, social segregation and the omnipresence of the all-powerful secret services are ugly. And yet not only difficult moments in his early life are described, but also particularly happy moments in his everyday life. An everyday life that suddenly plunges into endless chaos, at a time when life finally seemed to smile at him.
Aeham Ahmad’s autobiography “Und die Vögel werden singen” (Verlag S. Fischer, 2017) has now appeared in numerous languages and lets people all over the world trace the fate of the Syrian people. The author also reports on his dramatic escape and arrival in Germany, where he experienced a lot of warmth. The Neue Züricher Zeitung wrote in its review:
„A story full of hope, humanity – and music.“
And in the Nürnberger Nachrichten it says:
“There are heart-wrenching, dramatic and highly emotional scenes and stories that Aeham Ahmad tells in his book. Great material that would be suitable for filming.“
The Westdeutsche Zeitung comes to the following conclusion:
„The book tells everything that people should know in order to better understand refugees.“
Alternating with musical pieces, three excerpts from the book will be read in the course of the concert (Aeham Ahmad leaves the choice of passages to the organizers of the concert). The organizer will provide the reader. The musical program lasts about 60 minutes, together with three reading units of 10 minutes each, this results in a total duration of 90 minutes – plus a 15-minute break (and encores).
Connecting Cultures – Aeham Ahmad & Cornelius Hummel
The cellist Cornelius Hummel and Aeham Ahmad met in Wiesbaden. Even during his school and study days, Cornelius Hummel devoted himself intensively to composition, initially under the guidance of his father, the composer Bertold Hummel. The Frankfurt Feste, the Wiesbaden International May Festival, the Hanoverian Society for New Music, the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, as well as numerous soloists, chamber ensembles and chamber orchestras commissioned Cornelius Hummel with works. He was co-founder and cellist of the Avance quartet, which promoted the spread of new music on an international level. Invitations from Goethe Institutes to concerts and workshops have taken him and the quartet to countries such as Croatia, Slovenia, Spain, Bulgaria, USA, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Cuba and Mexico. From 1987 to 2008 Cornelius Hummel was a cellist at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden.
In the collaboration with Aeham Ahmad, modern, oriental and jazzy sounds meet in the pieces that both musicians have composed and recorded together. You can find more information about Cornelius Hummel here, and you can also order the audio CD “Connecting Cultures” from his website.
Glaube an die Menschlichkeit – Aeham Ahmad & Cornelius Hummel
ЯEVEAL
The music of ЯEVEAL is an onomatopoeic mosaic, marked by human compassion and tonal richness of facets. The trio sets a musical counterpoint to social facades with which people in their respective surroundings grow up and which become everyday masks in later life.
The stateless pianist Aeham Ahmad from Syria with Arab roots, the Glasgow-born tabla player Hardeep Deehre of Indian descent and Thomas Zöller, a musical border crosser with the bagpipes, go on a musical journey of discovery of a special kind.
The three musicians retain their individuality and redefine “harmony” in this context: as a level on which they meet as musicians and people in mutual respect, as musical testimony to an inner attitude that brought them together for this project .
Aeham Ahmad & Edgar Knecht Trio
With the program “Keys to friendship” the multiple award-winning jazz pianist Edgar Knecht meets his friend Aeham Ahmad with his virtuoso trio. The Hessische / Niedersächsische Allgemeine raved about the premiere in front of a sold out house at the Kassel Opera:
“Already the most moving concert of the year – also musically outstanding. Too good for just one performance. „
„Keys to Friendship“ is also available on CD. Shortly after its release, the album won the World Music Prize „Creole“ and received special recognition through a nomination for the German Record Critics‘ Prize. The trio’s concerts with Aeham were acclaimed at many festivals.
AEHAM AHMAD meets EDGAR KNECHT – To Those In The Waves
Aeham Ahmad Barcelona Quartet
In 2017, Aeham Ahmad and the Portuguese violinist João Silva met for the first time in Barcelona to play music together. Together with two well-known instrumentalists – the Mexican double bass player Juan Carlos Buchan and the Spanish percussionist Albert Enkaminanko – they met to record original compositions by Aeham Ahmad and arrangements by João Silva. In a fusion of Orient and Occident, wonderful melodies were created in this collaboration – music full of emotion and great liveliness!
Aeham Ahmad Barcelona Quartet
Aeham Ahmad Trio
In 2017, Aeham Ahmad and two Venezuelan musicians – the violinist Ernesto Briceño and the drummer / body percussionist Roberto Ignacio Castillo Lagrange – met for the first time in Barcelona to play music together. They met to record original compositions by Aeham Ahmad and arrangements by the two well-known instrumentalists. In a fusion of Orient and Occident, wonderful melodies were created in this collaboration – music full of emotion and great liveliness!
Sadaqa
“Actually, I don’t really like to play alone on stage!” Says Aeham Ahmad with a wink. The Syrian with the distinctive voice has become popular as a solo “pianist from the rubble”.
„Sadaqa“ – in German „friendship“ – is now the name of his band project, founded in summer 2018 with the musicians Nils Alf (sax, clarinet, bass clarinet), Kay Kalytta (percussion) and the Franco-German singer Nora Benamara. Sadaqa is the encounter between different musical worlds. Arabic folk music, jazz and chanson enter into dialogue with each other and invite you on a journey into Aeham’s history. In the soulful interpretations of Nora Benamara, the Arabic language is reflected in the English, German and French. Bridges are created and allow the listener to immerse themselves in the bitter tales from the Syrian Yarmouk. Melancholy, humor, innocence and hope merge in authentic improvisations – and nothing is suddenly closer than the distant. So Sadaqa honestly touches and connects across borders.
Sadaqa in Bonn – Live Compilation
Aeham Ahmad & Nora Benamara
The music of Aeham Ahmad and Nora Benamara is an encounter between different musical worlds. Arabic folk music, jazz and chanson enter into dialogue with each other and invite you on a journey into Aeham’s history. In the soulful interpretations of Nora Benamara, the Arabic language is reflected in the English, German and French. Bridges are created and allow the listener to immerse themselves in the bitter tales from the Syrian Yarmouk. Melancholy, humor, innocence and hope merge in authentic improvisations – and nothing is suddenly closer than the distant. So the duo touches honestly and connects across borders.
Aeham Ahmad and Nora Benamara Live in Kassel
Music for peace (special offer for schools)
In workshops and evening events, Aeham Ahmad and stART international e.V. – a network of educators, therapists and artists – introduce schoolchildren and the general public to the importance of art for people affected by war and disasters. The projects specially developed for school communities arose from the knowledge that art is indispensable wherever people experience existential losses or are forced to start over due to crises. The artistic expression relieves and liberates, it enables a spiritual survival after the experience of powerlessness. The music of Aeham Ahmad gathered people in the Yarmouk refugee camp and demonstrated to them that the human spirit is invincible.
In educational projects at schools, in guided social internships in refugee accommodation and in direct work with people with a refugee background, the stART association in Germany has been campaigning for peaceful encounters and helping to shape the social community for many years.