Omar Harfouch’s arpeggiated path to peace

The question Omar Harfouch asks us in compositions and performances alike is, “Which do we want to pass down to our kids and grandkids: a world torn asunder by war or one unified by peace?” It’s a challenge to listeners to seriously contemplate the need for goodwill in a fractious world.

More than just an artist, the pianist and composer is an entrepreneur whose business savvy helped catapult him to musical fame and prosper in undertakings such as purchasing French-language monthly Entrevue to expand its readership far and wide.

French audiences will also recognize him from appearances on reality TV, but most know him for his top pursuit, music, specifically music for piano, a bottomless well of personal fulfillment for him.

Omar’s childhood was marked by both a loving family environment and political turmoil in the Middle East, which first turned his gaze toward the international stage. “Music saved my life”, Harfouch says of his calling because it offered him a career that could help deepen compassion and understanding.

The personal devastation he suffered in the midst of war pushed him to focus all his talents, musical and otherwise, on bringing people together.

His 17-minute piece “Concerto for Peace” for piano and orchestra was composed just with that in mind as it carries listeners off to an ethereal land of tranquility where they can escape the noise of the world for a while.

Omar’s piano transcends the confines of music-making to become a tool for effecting social change. Convinced that art has the power to foster dialogue and help adversaries come together, he approaches a composition as more than a series of musical patterns but rather a means to taking action. At every concert he gives, he plays his “La Fantaisie Orientale,” a piece that blends western and oriental instrumentation such as the qanun and more to create a rich symphonic tapestry glinting with accents from the Middle Eastern world. In a similar vein of blending of cultures though music, his piece “Save on life” (Save One Life and You Save Humanity) draws inspiration from verses in both the Quran and the Torah because both texts impart wisdom that has guided him in his life and work.

His work promoting the value of every human life has not fallen on deaf ears at the Vatican. In November of 2024, Omar Harfouch has been invited to perform in the holy Salone Sistini, a venue in the Apostolic Library rarely opened to the public. It was a powerful symbol of building interfaith bridges, and the honors didn’t stop there. Harfouch was likewise awarded the very first Jubilee 2025 Pontifical Medal and granted a private audience with Pope Francis.

A month after that, he took to the stage of the Dubai Opera accompanied by French Gitano band Chico and the Gypsies to debut his latest piece, “Dubai Mi Amor,” to an audience that included the likes of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and Hollywood star Orlando Bloom. The performance demonstrated how a little willingness to break with convention can tear down walls between cultures, and what better place to do that than the city of Dubai?

The road ahead for Omar looks bright. In 2025, he and Ensemble Sequentiae, his heady symphonic accompaniment led by conductor Mathieu Bonnin, will take his “Concerto for Peace” on tour across France, starting in Lyon on February 21th, followed by Bordeaux on April 26th and various cities throughout the French Riviera from July through October, not to mention a little jaunt to New York City on May 29th so his melodious advocacy for peace can reach an even larger audience.

Omar Harfouch’s composing and humanitarian work show that music is more than entertainment. It can fuel change when the intentions of both songwriters and performers are focused on unifying people and healing divisions for a little light to shine through in a world that can seem all too dark at times.