For Ibrahim Maalouf, music was a refuge. Now, it's his mission

Q34:39Ibrahim Maalouf: Pushing the boundaries of the trumpet, his father’s influence, and how music became a refuge to him

When the acclaimed French Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf was a child, his family left Beirut for Paris because of the Lebanese Civil War. Finding himself suddenly in a strange land, where he didn't even know the language, the young Maalouf discovered his refuge, he says, in music.

He would hum, inventing little songs. "[Slowly], music started to become my thing," Maalouf tells Q's Tom Power in an interview. "My friends at school, they were like, 'OK, this guy doesn't talk so much, but when he plays piano, it's cool.'"

By the age of eight, he was touring with his father Nassim — a renowned trumpeter in his own right — playing both European and Arabic classical music.

While the trumpeter's passion for music may have begun as a kind of refuge, now he sees it as the means to carry out a broader mission. Though his latest is actually his 17th album, he tells Q that every single one of his releases has carried the same message at its core. He thought it was important, however, to state it explicitly this time.  

"We are living in times where people are expecting you to be saying very clear messages," he explains. "And that's why this album, Capacity to Love, it's not poetry anymore. It's very clear: We need love. Full stop. Period. We need love. That's it."

He continues: "I desperately need love, and I think this world desperately needs love. And what's happening now in Europe or in the Middle East is again proof that we will never shout enough — or loud enough — how much love we need."

And Maalouf — who says, "I believe only in music" and "music is my religion" — feels his art form is uniquely powered to deliver this message. He relates the story of a sold-out performance to approximately 20,000 fans that he played recently in one of the biggest arenas in Paris.

"[There were] all kinds of people from all kinds of religions," he says. "All ages, poor, rich — we don't care. We are all together, having fun, singing, dancing, sharing the same values. Is there any politician who made this? No. Only musicians and singers and orchestras can reach this. So that's why I really believe that music is more powerful than anything else." 

The full interview with Ibrahim Maalouf is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Ibrahim Maalouf produced by Ben Edwards.