"The LeBAM orchestra during a concert on May 6, 2023, at the National Museum of Beirut. (Credit: LeBAM.)
Since 2008, LeBAM has brought music to every corner of the country, with a clear mission: to give all children, regardless of their background, the chance to make music together. What began as a cultural initiative has become a form of resistance — revived this Wednesday, May 14, with an inaugural concert at the National Museum of Beirut, following years of silence brought on by the crisis.
The financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, the August 4 explosion and the departure of music teachers have all disrupted even the best of intentions, bringing LeBAM’s activities to a halt. Now, they are only just beginning to resume, marked by a concert this Wednesday at the National Museum. “I feel like Sisyphus,” says founder and president Ghassan Moukheiber, a former MP.
Music as a tool for citizen development
It's a childhood dream that his parents forbade. As an adult, he caught up with it at the conservatory by learning the oboe, which he eventually abandoned in favor of legal studies in the United States. Until the revelation, in Corfu, where he discovered an island where 75% of the inhabitants play an instrument in harmony orchestras.
At the time of political divisions between March 8 and 14, he proposed to his friends Ghassan Tueni and Walid Gholmieh (then director of the National Conservatory) to create a citizen orchestra. “Music is a universal language, it knows no Christian nor Muslim. It was the best way to recreate citizenship,” he says.
Gholmieh promised to assign teachers from the conservatory, and the presence of Ghassan Tueni supported a purely cultural, totally apolitical initiative. LeBAM was founded, starting with wind instruments: “Because harmony orchestras use rare instruments, often relegated to villages or the army, which makes them militaristic,” Ghassan Moukheiber jokes. The mission of LeBAM is to democratize music and make it accessible to all, especially the most disadvantaged and in regions. Instruments are made available for free, and there was a time when transport was too, as were the concerts.
In 2011, the orchestra, composed of 50 youths — their maiden flight — gave a concert at Victoria Hall in Geneva, a first for the ensemble. The journey has since been marked by beautiful experiences, all bearing values dear to Moukheiber: collaboration in all its essence and respect for difference.
LeBAM, stories of life
Many of these young people play in the National Orchestra of the Conservatory. Carl Bitar, a teenager who joined the project, says he is delighted to practice the saxophone every Saturday and participate in concerts: “An enriching experience on all levels.” Rita Chakhtoura, another teenager, shares her happiness “to experience” music collectively within the ensemble.
Because LeBAM is pursuing a sustainable project, now counting musicians who have since become mothers. It's also a love story: that of Moukheiber, who met his wife Marina, a musician and singer, during a musical hike organized by LeBAM, where she started as a student.
A fall and a fractured toe led the former deputy to her bedside and ignited the spark within the couple. Marina is now vice-president of the LeBAM board and in charge of all its activities, while Ghassan begins to step back slightly.
LeBAM is therefore teaching everywhere for free, regional diversity with the creation of four centers and eight orchestras — including a jazz orchestra among others — and a music camp.
Five thousand pedagogical materials have been deposited at NDU but are accessible to all. “Three groups were added to the main one,” explains Marina: The Joyful Team, whose mission was to visit patients at home or in the hospital to play music for them; The Sunshine Band, made up of individuals with Down syndrome and children with special needs; and the LeBAM Combo, which gathers the best musicians and participates in paid activities, helping to retain these youths in Lebanon.
All of this beautiful work suddenly stopped in 2019. From an orchestra of 55 members with 400 students, LeBAM now counts 37 musicians and 50 new students. But LeBAM does not lose sight of its core philosophy, whose ultimate mission is to integrate the teaching of music into the school curriculum. A task that is progressing slowly but surely.
A local and international partnership in full expansion
Since the beginning of the adventure, a particular collaboration agreement has been signed with the conservatory, whose directors are ex-officio members of LeBAM.
There are many collaborations, locally and globally, notably with Gene Aitken, who infused the spirit of the group. The latter, educator, conductor, and internationally renowned American jazz musician, Grammy Award winner, is recognized for his pivotal role in spreading jazz worldwide. The framework of LeBAM's development, an agreement should be concluded with the association Demos, its French counterpart.
LeBAM counts on sponsorship and sponsors for its survival, and now on a contribution of $40 per month per student for those who can afford it. Hence the importance of this first paid concert, Dance Around the World, scheduled for Wednesday, May 14, at the National Museum: a concert of world dance music — in contrast — in collaboration with professor and dancer Mazen Kiwan and his partner Sahar, who will demonstrate their talent on a few tango, cha-cha-cha, and waltz pieces. “We don’t want to give up, the success of this concert is crucial for future funding,” says Moukheiber.
LeBAM has launched an online crowdfunding campaign titled “Teach me music.” Music will also be taught at ALBA Balamand, where the orchestra's rehearsals, previously held at Sainte-Famille and Kafa'at, will now be hosted.