The ascent of a talented composer : Johnny Hachem: Johnny Hachem is a Switzerland based composer and pianist, who was born in Lebanon to parents of musical backgrounds. His father played Violin while his mother had a great talent for Piano. He developed an impeccable ear refined over time listening carefully to his mom’s music. He grew up surrounded by sounds, music sheets as well chords which served an important role during his childhood years due to war-torn country’s complicated politics. However, whenever fire ceased he would play piano left handed even if it meant practicing alone! Discover extra details on Johnny Hachem.
As music theory, can you explain for other artists why it is advantageous to discover classical chord progressions and harmonies and apply them into any genre? Johnny Hachem: Of course, it’s advantageous to discover classical chord progressions and harmonies because they are the basic of almost all the music genres or let’s say they will enrich their musical thoughts even if they won’t be used the classical school way they can affect them unconsciously. It’s well needed to study all these things but at the end, when you compose, you must not to be making just a harmony exercise: you should really have the talent to add your own thoughts…
He also composed a very successful orchestral piece, ‘The Battle of Siddim’, now known as ‘The Valley of the Dead Sea.’ This composition has been chosen and performed by The Lebanese Philharmonic, Lebanon, Lublin Philharmonic, Koshalin Symphony & Torun Symphony orchestra in Poland in just one year. Oriental Piano Project is one of the most uniquely composed tunes he has worked on. For that, he chose a good number of old traditional songs from the Orient that had never been written for the piano before. The project became extremely successful as these arrangements were performed in more than 15 countries in the last 12 years and were greatly admired by the audience.
What musical instruments would you take with you on a travel to Mars? Johnny Hachem: Harmonica! It’s my second instrument after the piano. Back to Earth: what is the role of a composer, songwriter, perfomer these days? Is it only to be a jester or a bard? Or is there more to it, for example using the stage to stand for others? Johnny Hachem: I believe the role of music is much greater than entertaining people. In my opinion, different messages should be spread through music to defend specific causes or to help society. So, I always say that talent alone is not enough; a musician – and artist as well- should have a certain vision that gives sense and value to his music.
He not only successfully cultivated his talents and became one of the few names in the industry but also won a music composition award at International Composition Conference in 2009. Then in 2021, he managed to win big at the Classic Pure Vienna International Composition as well. The unparalleled achievements of this artist have no limitations as Johnny has performed as a soloist in various concerts and international festivals in multiple countries such as Ukraine, Lebanon and Switzerland. Apart from that, he has shown what a skilled pianist he is while performing in France, Austria, Germany, England, Spain, Poland, Romania, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Belarus, South Korea, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
It is good to meet different, unique, creative artists, musicians. Johnny Hachem is one of them. The award-winning composer, pianist shares his thoughts and experiences on music creation in the 21st century, the contemporary and old time classical music and how he combines the modern technology with his compositions. Be brave and read on! And while you are at it, listen to Johnny Hachem‘s Jacob & Rachel, The Love Story, great treat for the ears!