News from Civsy, based on human monitoring, generative AI tools and retrieval-augumented real time data searchThe sudden cancellation of Syrian American composer and pianist Malek Jandali’s “Syrian Symphony for Peace” tour in December 2025 has exposed deep tensions between cultural policy, religious authority and the politics of memory in post war Syria. Announced as a historic homecoming, the tour was planned under the patronage of the Syrian Ministry of Culture and the Damascus Opera House, with free public concerts in Homs, Aleppo, Palmyra and Damascus, and was framed as a tribute to the martyrs of the Syrian revolution and a symbolic reconnection between an exiled artist and his homeland.
The tour was due to open on 8 December with an open air orchestral performance in Homs’ New Clock Square, described in the artist’s materials as the first symphonic concert ever staged in this iconic location and linked to commemorations of the first anniversary of the city’s “liberation”.
A tour reshaped at the last minute
Hours before his scheduled departure to Syria, Jandali announced that his team had been informed that the Clock Square concert would no longer take place, with shifting explanations citing logistical reasons, security concerns and proposals to move the performance indoors or to another format. In statements on social media and in interviews cited by regional outlets, he stressed that these last minute changes amounted to a fundamental alteration of the agreement and the spirit of the project, which he had conceived around returning music to a square marked by loss and dignity, rather than a minor organizational adjustment that could be overlooked. Jandali emphasised that the Clock Square concert was not just one date among many but the essence and symbolic heart of the initiative, and on this basis he announced the cancellation of his trip to Syria and the discontinuation of the entire tour.
Official regret and shifting responsibility
The Events Management of the Syrian Ministry of Culture responded with an official statement on its Facebook page, later reproduced by independent cultural media, expressing regret that the “Syrian Symphony for Peace” event would not be completed after preparations, bookings and rehearsals with the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra had already been carried out. The statement asserted that the modification to Jandali’s program in Homs had occurred “for reasons unknown to the Events Management” and argued that the change could have been compensated by moving concerts to other provinces, had the artist not decided to cancel his visit, which in turn prevented two scheduled performances at the Damascus Opera House. In a subsequent interview on the state run channel Al Ikhbariya, the Minister of Culture reiterated that the Ministry had not canceled the tour, framed the Homs decision as a local measure justified by logistical and security considerations, and stated that religious commentary circulating online did not reflect the official position of the Ministry, though he did not elaborate in detail on how religious discourse interacts with cultural decision making.
Religious discourse and contested public space
The controversy took on a sharper tone after a Facebook post attributed to Sheikh Sahl Junaid, identified as head of the Fatwa Committee in Homs province, praised the cancellation of the orchestral event in a square that “carries the memory of blood and tears”, describing this as respect for martyrs’ blood, loyalty to their families and an act of obedience to God. In the same text, Junaid wrote that public demands were clear in rejecting what does not befit a “square of pain, dignity and challenge” and insisted that the symbolism of martyrdom should not be exploited outside a legitimate and national framework, declaring that martyrs’ blood is not honored with musical instruments. Coverage of the incident by Syrian and regional outlets notes that many followers interpreted the sheikh’s post as an endorsement of the cancellation and as evidence that local authorities were responding to objections of a religious or societal nature to holding a symphonic concert with a mixed audience in a space strongly associated with the 2011 “Clock Tower” killings and the memory of war victims.
Memory, martyrdom and artistic freedom
For cultural rights observers, the Jandali case illustrates how decisions on public artistic events in Syria can be shaped by overlapping and partly opaque references to security, logistics, religious propriety and the symbolic management of martyrdom, making responsibility difficult to pin down. The artist’s framing of the project as a way to return music to a square of trauma, the Ministry’s insistence that alternatives were possible, and the religious argument that such a space should remain reserved for a narrowly defined religious and national symbolism, together reveal how contested public space remains and how fragile guarantees are for artists engaging directly with sites of collective memory. The debate ignited on Syrian social media, where users alternated between anger at local authorities for blocking a composer known for his support of the Syrian revolution, concerns about security, and endorsements of the view that a mixed gender orchestral concert in Clock Square would violate religious norms or disrespect the martyrs, reflects a broader struggle over who gets to define the terms of mourning, celebration and artistic expression in post conflict Syria.
References:
Malek Jandali – “Syrian Symphony for Peace” (official tour page), malekjandali.com, 29 November 2025.[malekjandali]
“Malik Jandali: The Pianist Who Turned Exile into a Symphony for Peace”, SyriaWise, 4 December 2025.[syriawise]
“Malik Jandali: Sudden Cancellation of Homs Concert Ignites Social Media”, Tesaaworld, 5 December 2025 (English edition).[tesaaworld]
“Malik Jandali Cancels His Syrian Tour Due to ‘Sudden Change’ and the Ministry of Culture Expresses Regret”, Tesaaworld, 6 December 2025 (English edition).[tesaaworld]
“مالك جندلي يلغي جولته السورية بسبب ‘تغيير مفاجئ’… ووزارة الثقافة تعبّر عن أسفها”, تساوورلد (Tesaaworld Arabic), 6 December 2025.[tesaaworld]
“Malek Jandali”, Wikipedia (for basic biographical details only, not for the December 2025 incident).[en.wikipedia]
