The Honored No. (31) Malek Jandali

• Born in Germany in 1972, of Syrian Homs origin.
• He began his music education at the age of four, with his first piano concert on stage at eight.
• Trained under Professor Viktor Bounin from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
• Moved to study music composition theory at Queen’s University in the U.S. after receiving a full scholarship, graduating with distinction in 1997 under Professor Paul Nitsch.
• Earned a Master’s degree with honors from the University of North Carolina in 2004.
• Today, he is one of the world’s leading pianists, performing alongside numerous international symphonies on prominent stages in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.
• A member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.
• He is the cousin of Steve Jobs, the co-founder and former CEO of Apple.
• CEO of the charity organization “Piano for Peace.”
• Honorary musician for Qatar Museums.
• Researcher in Arab musical heritage at Queen’s University.
• Former visiting researcher at the Center for Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University.
• His music reflects UNESCO’s call to preserve Syria’s rich cultural heritage, especially as it faces systematic destruction and disappearance.
• His works have been performed by major orchestras worldwide, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Zagreb Philharmonic, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Syrian National Orchestra.
• He is the first Syrian composer and Arab musician to arrange the oldest musical notation discovered in Ugarit, Ras Shamra, Syria, dating back to the 4th century BC. He added rhythm and harmony, performing it on piano with international orchestras, producing a remarkable musical piece titled “Echoes from Ugarit.”
• His compositions are published by Soul B Music, achieving major success with albums topping CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, and distributed globally by Virgin Megastores.
• His music has drawn interest and critical acclaim from major global newspapers in Europe and North America.
• He has appeared on numerous radio and television stations, including National Public Radio, BBC, Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, Brazil’s Globo, French TV, CNN, and others.
• In 2011, shortly after the Syrian revolution began, he brought his piano and participated in a peaceful demonstration in front of the White House to protest the Syrian regime’s brutality.
• His presence led to his parents being brutally beaten and tortured by Assad’s regime in Syria.
• He was awarded the title of “Great Immigrant” by the Carnegie Corporation in New York in 2015, in recognition of his cultural contributions and social impact. In a press conference in New York, he dedicated the award to Syrian children and all displaced people seeking peace, justice, and human rights.
• His documentary, Malek Jandali: The Phoenix in Exile, was nominated for an Emmy in Chicago in 2019.
• Founder and judge of the Malek Jandali International Youth Competition, which nurtures young talents from the Arab world and showcases them on the Carnegie Hall stage in New York.
• Recipient of the Freedom of Expression Award, the Gusi Peace Prize, and the Global Music Award for his humanitarian message.
• He has composed numerous musical works, including Emessa – Homs (2012), Syria the Anthem of the Free (2013), and The Syrian Symphony (2014).

In the Syrian Future Movement, in recognition of his rich, artistic, humanitarian, and national legacy, and his steadfastness alongside his people before and after their revolution against oppression and tyranny, and in acknowledgment of Syria’s esteemed figures and its great men, we present the Syrian Future Movement Shield this week to the renowned migrant musician, Malek Jandali, as a symbolic Syrian shield carrying our comprehensive national vision and approach.