Syrian refugee pianist on tour in Florence

FLORENCE, ITALY – Ayham Ahmad, a Syrian who became an icon when a 2014 photo of him playing his piano in a Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus went viral, is currently touring Italy with dates in Mestre (22/1),
Taranto (27/1), Florence (2/2) and Aosta (4/2).

Known as the Pianist from Yarmouk, Ahmad shies away from the label: «I’m not a pianist, I’m just someone who likes to play, I come from Yarmouk and I”m proud of it», he loves to say. He began studying piano at age five, encouraged by his father.

Ahmad pulled his piano around on a cart, and played it surrounded by children singing – a symbol of courage and hope in the middle of chaos.

His history is not different to millions of refuges: he decided to escape after ISIS burned his piano and killed one of his children, so he crossed the Balkans and posted the trip on Facebook in a sort of online travel diary.

Now he live in Germany with his wife and his children. The anonymous photographer who shot the iconic Yarmouk photo
was Niraz Saied, who Ahmad said was famous there for documenting clashes between Assad”s troops and the militants of al-Nusra Front, and about whom he no longer has any news.

Ahmad has played more than 300 concerts since his arrival in Germany and now his music arrive to Italy. He is currently working on his second album and his autobiography, both scheduled for release in 2017.