Episode 2

Ammar Haj Ahmad reads Aeham Ahmad’s dramatic account of how he risked his life under siege in Damascus, defying the Syrian regime with his music.

It’s the summer of 2013 and the armies of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have cut the Damascus suburb of Yarmouk off from the world in an attempt to starve out the rebel Free Syrian Army. Aehem, formerly a prosperous music teacher, is trapped there with his family and is selling falafal made from pigeon food to keep them alive.

"Being hungry makes you moody. The starving people of Yarmouk shuffled morosely through the deserted, bombed out streets, or huddled around campfires, burning clothes and plastic bottles. No matter where you went, you could never escape the terrible stench of burning plastic bottles.

"People were aging in fast-motion. Before the siege, my mother had still seemed young, but now she was grey and haggard, her face lined with deep wrinkles. She had lost a lot of weight — 'And all without a diet or gym,' she said sarcastically. From time to time I would weigh myself. Before, I had weighed over ten stone, now I wasn’t much more than seven. I could see my ribcage under my skin."

But in the midst of starvation and misery, Aeham pushes his piano into the ruined streets and starts a choir to lift the spirits of the residents of Yarmouk. A friend videos his protest songs and soon Aeham is getting tens of thousands of hits on the internet. But he’s taking a huge risk.

The Pianist of Yarmouk is read by Ammar Haj Ahmad, who trained as an actor before fleeing the conflict in Syria. He recently starred in the critically acclaimed play The Jungle, set in the notorious Calais refugee camp, in London and New York.

Written by Aeham Ahmad
Read by Ammar Haj Ahmad
Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4