Aeham Ahmad is a Palestinian-Syrian pianist. He gained international recognition in 2014–2015 through his public performances in the Yarmouk refugee camp – as the »pianist in the ruins«.

Aeham Ahmad grew up as a Palestinian refugee in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, Syria. He began learning to play the piano at the age of five, initially at the conservatoire in Damascus; from 2006 to 2011, he studied at the Faculty of Music at Baath University in Homs. Since 2013, Yarmouk had been the scene of fighting between various factions in the civil war. In the wake of the fighting, the siege and famine, the population dwindled from 150,000 to 16,000 by 2015. During this time, Ahmad transported his piano on a trailer or in a pick-up truck and performed on the streets and in public squares to give his fellow citizens courage and strength through his music amidst the suffering and destruction. Videos of these performances were shared on social media and his story received international media coverage. After the refugee camp was taken by »Islamic State« fighters in April 2015, they destroyed his piano during a raid. Faced with this situation, he decided to leave his homeland. On 2 August, he fled Yarmouk and, via Izmir, Lesbos and the Balkan route, arrived in Germany as a refugee in September 2015.

In 2015, he received the inaugural International Beethoven Prize for Human Rights, Peace, Freedom, Poverty Alleviation and Inclusion in Bonn – the prize was originally due to be awarded for the first time in 2016, but the ceremony was brought forward to 2015 in recognition of Ahmad’s »outstanding commitment«. His first performances in Germany took place at a concert for refugees and volunteers in Munich in October 2015, as well as at a charity concert in aid of the Bochum Refugee Aid organisation, alongside the Bochum Symphony Orchestra. During this time, Herbert Grönemeyer presented him with an electric piano.

In the years since he arrived in Germany, thousands of people have had the chance to experience Aeham Ahmad in concert. He has performed not only at countless venues across Germany, but also in concert halls in Amsterdam, London, Milan, Madrid, Paris and even on a tour of Japan. His audiences have consistently been thrilled and impressed by his exceptional virtuosity and the diversity of his performances. Aeham Ahmad has a knack for creatively blending classical music with Arabic influences, international folk elements and jazz improvisations – a unique and thoroughly captivating combination.

A piece of shrapnel lodged in his left hand is likely to prevent him from pursuing a further career as a classical pianist.

His published works include Und die Vögel werden singen. Ich, der Pianist aus den Trümmern (»And the Birds Will Sing: I, the Pianist from the Rubble«), co-written by Sandra Hetzl and Ariel Hauptmeier (S. Fischer, Frankfurt 2017). The book has been translated into several languages.