ABOUT US

“Music is as important as water, food and shelter. Music helped me to live with hope and to stay peaceful.”

Pictures and videos of him playing the piano in the middle of the debris in Yarmouk, Syria, have gone viral.

Aeham grew up in Yarmouk, the Damascus district that developed out of a Palestinian refugee camp. His blind father, who raised him while his mother was working and to whom he feels very close, insisted that he would learn to play the piano. From the age of five he studied music next to regular school.

Aeham Ahmad, our ambassador, played at the MHPSS conference #mindthemindnow on the 8th of October in Amsterdam organized by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The violin has always had a special place in my heart.”

Jeroen de Groot is one of the most outstanding violinists of his generation. As he put it in his most recent interview with Ivo Niehe, ‘The violin is my life; the violin has always had a special place in my heart.’ Jeroen knows how music can impact your life. He is one of the instigators behind, and an ambassador for the International Refugee Youth Orchestra.

As an ambassador to the foundation, Jeroen de Groot is donating the proceeds for his recordings of Bach’s ‘Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin’ (2CD + DVD edition). This beautiful edition is for sale for only € 24.95. Buy it here »

Jeroen also frequently joins in on visits to experience the projects on the ground, and he remains actively involved in the decision making.