It has been one week since Solhi Al-Wadi, the man who founded the Syrian Symphony and was responsible for the resurgence of classical music in Syria passed away. I was lucky enough to be a student at the Arab Conservatoire for seven years a long time ago. I loved music, but I could Never live up to Solhi’s expectation that I practice three hours a day.
                                         

Solhi called me once, and he told me that I was not going to be a
Professional musician, and that I should not take up a place in the
Program that could belong to a more serious student with a future
 in Music. Despite my mother’s tears and my father’s attempts to convince Him, he insisted that he would not change his decision.
 From this episode with Solhi, I learned my first life lesson, one that Remains the most important I have ever learned; that only hard work can Get you anywhere and that if you do not put your heart and soul into Something you will fail. I learned that I was responsible for my own
Success or failure, and no-body else could chance that.

The second lesson that I learned from Solhi is that it is unconscionable to judge someone on the basis of their race or religion. He used to say that judge someone on the basis of their race or religion. He used to say that the only things that matter are who you are as a person and what you do with
your life.

Solhi taught me that I should love both Baghdad and Damascus, because both are Arab cities and it is as Arabs that we love them. It was a Lesson in unity, a lesson about how much more important are the things That brings us together than the things that separate us.

 

Solhi was sick for the last few years of his life. We used to spend
Christmas together, and we were always careful not to bring the war in Iraq to his attention; we knew that the war would hurt him more than any Sickness ever could.

Solhi may have left us, but he left behind pieces of himself for everyone he ever touched. Yesterday in Toronto I held a combined Iftar and Thanksgiving dinner in my house, where Muslims and Christians celebrated together.

 I Spoke about Solhi with Rima, student who is currently teaching
piano at The Conservatory in Toronto. She looked at me, and there were tears in her eyes when she spoke about what a loss it was that Solhi was gone.

We learned so much from Solhi Al-Wadi, both from what he said to us and from the way he lived his life. Whether his students because successful musicians, like Rima, or pursued other paths, like me, we all learned from him. And when we sat around the table together, we all cried at the loss of our role-model, a man who left his mark on the world and on all Of us who were ever lucky enough to have him in our lives.