Basel Khalil: My Music Allows Me to Reflect on My Feelings

Photography

Dec 21

“I believe that life is the biggest challenge, or rather: consistency in life.”

Basel Khalil is a composer, arranger, and guitar teacher. He worked for 23 years at the Russian Cultural Center in Damascus, Syria and now lives and works in Belgium, where he is part of the initiative ‘Syrians Got Talent’

“When I was a child, I used to study at the Arab Institute of Music and that marked the beginning of my future choices. Eventually, I found myself further and further away from music for several years. What brought me back to it was my admiration for the sound of guitar. Now we are on a long journey together and it feels that we are one and inseparable. My music allows me to reflect on my feelings. Reflect on life.

I believe that life is the biggest challenge, or rather: consistency in life.

I’ve always found it difficult, this idea of starting everything again from scratch. I had to depart from the ordinary, struggled with making mistakes in life and here and there reconciled with myself, despite all the suffering I went through, looking for safety and stability for my family and myself.

Now I am no longer a refugee. I got my Belgian citizenship and I look forward to leaving behind me, all those difficult and painful years where my focus was to preserve my identity and make my mark in this life.

I think it’s very important for people to know about the pain of others, their stories and what they have been through because in the end we all live on the same planet and other peopless pain is part of our pain. We cannot live apart in this big little world.”