Founder's Story - Composing Peace: Omar Harfouch on Music’s Power to Unite and Heal | S2:E64

Episode Date: September 26, 2024

In this episode, Daniel Robbins interviews Omar Harfouch, a renowned pianist, composer, and peace advocate. Omar shares the story of his remarkable journey from growing up during the Lebanese Civil War to becoming a celebrated musician with a mission to promote peace through his compositions. His latest work, the "Concerto for Peace," is a powerful piece designed to inspire unity and healing in a world divided by conflict.Omar discusses how his early experiences with war shaped his life and music, and how he uses his influence to bring people together. He also reflects on the challenges of advocating for peace in a world where division is rampant, and the inspiration he draws from historical figures like Rostropovich and Daniel Barenboim. Omar’s dedication to using music as a tool for change is both moving and motivational, offering hope for a more harmonious future.Key Points Discussed:Omar’s early life in Lebanon during the civil war and how it influenced his path in music.The role of the piano in protecting him both physically and emotionally during times of conflict.The creation of the "Concerto for Peace" and its mission to foster unity and understanding.The challenges of advocating for peace in today’s divided world.How music can serve as a universal language to bridge cultural and political divides.Omar’s performances at significant venues, including the United Nations and the Vatican.The impact of historical figures like Rostropovich and Daniel Barenboim on Omar’s work.The importance of bringing together people from opposing sides to promote peace.Omar’s vision for the future and how he hopes to continue using music to inspire change.How to connect with Omar Harfouch and follow his work.Relevant Links:Omar Harfouch's WebsiteOmar Harfouch's InstagramOur Sponsors:* Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: www.rosettastone.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyOur Sponsors:* Check out Indeed: indeed.com/FOUNDERSSTORY* Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: www.rosettastone.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyOur Sponsors:* Check out PrizePicks and use my code FOUNDERS for a great deal: www.prizepicks.com* Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: www.rosettastone.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Hey everyone, welcome back to Founder's Story. We have a really, really special guest today. And I love that he has impact at the core of his mission because that's what we do at Founder's Story. This is Impact TV, but it's Omar Harfouch. He is a pianist and a composer and his new composition is Concerto for Peace, and we're going to dig into everything there. Before we really dive into what it's about and who it's for, what was the reason that you even came up with this?

I was born in Lebanon during the civil war, and all my childhood I spent it in time of war and the piano protect me when I was kids and he protect me physically because when we had bombing I was always sitting and the piano is on it's also helped me to not to go to war and to stay like in music. And I started to play and to compose when I was 12 years, 13 years until I was the winner of European big contest. And the prize was to leave Lebanon and to go to Europe to study music and which was a kind of miracle for me so the piano and the

music they helped me to survive to survive physically and mentally also and then I lived in an ex-soviet union I studied in Moscow I studied in ex-Soviet Union, I studied in Moscow I studied in Ukraine and then there I was when it was the end of the Soviet Union, I was in Ukraine when Ukraine became independent I was studying there and I left Ukraine then to Paris

but I continue go to Ukraine because it's like my second country where Europe started I'm witness on the day when Europe opened all the borders and we could go walking from Belgium to France to Switzerland. So I'm a witness of big changing of all the region in the Middle East and also in Europe. And now we are living a very dark period. It is war everywhere.

All the places where I was in peace, I just said that I left Lebanon in war to go to study music and to play music in peaceful countries. Those countries are now on fire, under fire. Ukraine is occupied. In Paris, we live daily the situation that are living in the Middle East people. Of course, we don't have kids dying in France,

but we have the same hate. The people here wants to go to war. They want to go to war against Russia. They want to go to the war in Israel and Palestine. A lot of people I know here from Paris, they left France to go to take weapon and to do war in the Middle East. And all this I'm seeing daily. And it's like if my childhood is coming back, are we going to live civil war here in Europe? Are we going to live a global war? And everything that we can

say, we will never be right. We will be wrong. Because people, they are dressed against each other. The words, they don't have the same meaning anymore. You talk politics, they will say you are Islamophobe. You talk you talk

analyze, they will say you're anti-Semite and whatever. So the wars are very dangerous. They became very dangerous. Exactly the same when I was in Lebanon, when I was supposed not to speak, because when you speak, you risk to die. So the music helped me when I was in Lebanon. And I am doing the same thing. I am composing.

And I want to survive again. But this time, I am not a small boy anymore. I have influence in Europe. I have influence in the Middle East. And I want people to come all together to my concert in Paris. It's a big theater, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. It is for about 2,000 persons. They will come. And the people who decide are

coming, ambassadors, ex-ministers, actual ministers, congresswomen and men, and also artists from the show business, from cinema, and we all will try to live about 17 minutes is the time of my concerto for peace, to only think about peace and to forget hate. I'm not just going to play for the first time for peace this time. I already did it twice, even three times. I played after the 7 October tragedy. I played a composition that I did it for the situation in the European Commission in Brussels. It was the first time in the history of the European Commission they organized, they allowed orchestra to come to play. And it was for peace. And I saw that it was helpful.

And that day I understood that I have a mission to do. Because people, they came to me after. And they said, we don't see the end. We need hopes. And you are giving us hope. Then I played again in Paris. And a very famous place. It's called the Institute of the Arab World. It's a very prestigious place in Paris.

And people also, it was for 100 stars. The people were, all of them, very known persons. And then I played it with a philharmonic orchestra in a small town in France. It's not very small, but it's one of the oldest towns. The name is Béziers because I did orchestration for a big orchestra, a symphonic orchestra, and it was a success. People did about 10 minutes standing ovation.

That moment I understood that I should continue. After that, because the media in France was talking very good about my initiative, I was invited to play at the United Nations. I'm going to play at the United Nations. I'm going to play at the United Nations December 10. I am invited by the Vatican to play on November 14. And I'm going to play on September 18 for the French people here in Paris in the Theatre de Champs-Élysées. And what is amazing is that I have a lot of media, they propose to be partners, and they are doing promotion.

And I am going to be for five years, this concert is going to be broadcasted on TV for five years all over the world via Mezzo TV channel. It's the famous TV channel for classical music. And this is for me, it's a kind of recognizing of my music, but also to promote peace. And the last thing I want to say is that even if only one person will be convinced by my project, it's going to be very good because if I help one person not to go to war and not to hate the other person, it's also a success. I am sure that I will have more than one person, maybe 100. And if 100 person will decide to save each of them one life, we will save altogether 100 times

the whole humanity. Yeah, that's amazing, right? It's like this exponential growth. You help one person, they help 100 people. You help 100, they help 100, they help 1,000. Now you're at a million, then you're at a billion. How do you feel or what would your younger self think about where you are now? Looking back to how music really saved your life, and now you're using music to save other lives.

But thinking about when you were that child, learning to play the piano during those tumultuous times, what would they be thinking about your success now? My success now is important to promote peace. This is what my small Omar, let's say, as he was saying, he would see the old Omar now, because it will be a crime if after all what I had lived in Lebanon to do nothing. It's very easy to hate the other person. It's very easy to go to war. But it's very hard to go against all the hate and to take a risk

because we still remember that most of the people who talked about peace, they were killed. Rabin was killed. And United States also a lot of, I don't remember now the names, They were killed. Rabin was killed. And United States also a lot of, I don't remember now the name, but I'm sure that there are people who talked about peace, like John Lennon or others. They were killed because nobody wants peace.

And I feel it daily. I can give you an example. The theater is so big that everybody can come, but I still have people, important and influential people, who are asking me if this person is coming, I will not come. But it's about peace. Come on, guys, let's come all together to sit and to sing about peace. We cannot do peace with only people who agree with themselves, between them. We can do peace only with the people who are not agree with us so it's still a long road to the peace but i am i have the

determination that i don't want anybody to live the childhood that i hey everyone i'm not sure if you've heard but our show founder's story is now available on the iHeartRadio app. So check that out. iHeartRadio online or you grab the app. It's super easy. You can listen to all of our episodes wherever you enjoy your podcast, whether that's iHeartRadio, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and many more. But check it out. Beach, like for example in Gaza or in Ukraine, in Mariupol, or even in Russia because they are also under bombing now, or in Nagorno-Karabakh, or in Sudan, in Libya, in Iraq, in Syria. And you see them playing soccer, for example, and you imagine that all is all right, everything is fine.

But actually, those small boys, it's me. It's me who was also playing during the war. And I know that they are suffering. I know that they are not good at all. And I have the legitimacy to tell this. I am Lebanese, and I'm talking about peace. Lebanon is in war with other countries. And when you see that at least there is one Lebanese who wants peace, and if we'll become two or three from both sides or from all the sides, we can show the new generation, the kids and the children, that they can have hope. So I am convinced that what I'm doing now should be more with other people should do the same. In the United States of America, I see also what's going on in your country.

The Yowz and the new generation, they are fighting daily. For what they are fighting? I mean, you are not right. I am right. This is only the, they are fighting daily. For what they are fighting? I mean, you are not right, I am right. This is only the, they are fighting for this, but actually we are all right. And we are not right all also at the same time. So why don't we just sit and think together how to build a new life and new situation to let the new generation coming and to live in peace. Yeah, that's amazing. I mean, I think most of us really want peace. We want love and peace. We want like you're saying, we want people to get along because I think humans generally want the same

thing, right? Like we want our families to survive. We want to provide to them. We want a good life. We want to be happy. I think most of us really want that. So it's great that you're really standing up for peace. My last question is, was there somebody who really inspired you in your life? Maybe another composer, maybe someone else that was a professional piano player. Was there somebody out there who also inspired you beyond when you were a kid playing but did you meet someone who you said wow like i i really want to you know be even better than this person thank you for this question this question is really important for me because i have seen when i was a student pictures of Vladislav Rostropovich playing cello under the Berlin War,

which was existing, separating two parts of Berlin and two Europe. And he played just a small melody for peace. This is my first image. And I think that this picture, because at that time we could see only black and white picture, I think that Rostropovich showed me the first way, how to go, how to try to change things by music. And the second was when Daniel Barenboim, he is an Argentinian Jewish pianist and composer. He's one of the best pianists who played Beethoven.

And he's director, he's now directing in Berlin and he's known all over the world. When he met with Edward Said, who is a Palestinian writer and professor, and they together build the Diwan East-West Orchestra. It's a small thing that they have done, but it is the only orchestra existing in the world for Israeli and Palestinian musicians. They play every day together, they travel all over the world together and they never fight. They see what's going on in the world, but they come to play music together. So Eduard Said and Daniel Barenboim are an inspiration for me. And the orchestra D1 S2S is for me an example that everything is possible so yes i am inspired by rostropovich and by daniel burnboyle who is both of the musician and by edward said who was writer poet and philosopher

wow thank you for sharing that omar i mean that's what a beautiful story you know like people really walking the walk talking the talk and really making it happen. So if others want to see your concert, your composition, if they want to get in touch with you and find out more information about what you are doing in the future, how can they do so? They can just go to my website, Omar Harfouch.com and they will see my actuality or just Instagram. This is the best way. It's also Omar Harfouch. I think it's at Omar Harfouch or something like that. But it's just my name and they will find my page.

And I daily put everything I'm doing. And by the way, also your interview is going to be on my stories. And thank you so much for giving me this chance to talk to people in the United States of America. Yeah, Omar, I'm deeply inspired. I wish I could make it out to France to see. I mean, it sounds amazing. I hope I get to watch it on social media, but I'm just deeply inspired by what you're doing

and giving your life for an amazing cause just speaks wonders about who you are as a person. So thank you so much though for joining us today on Founders Story. Thank you so much. Thank you for tuning in to Founders Story. Keep exploring, keep dreaming, and join us next time

for more inspiring entrepreneurial journeys.