Johnny Hachem or the climb of a talented pianist: Johnny Hachem is a Lebanese-Ukrainian composer and pianist, based in Switzerland. He is the holder of many international awards including the 2009 international award for the Music Composition at The International Composition Conference (Cergy-pontoise, France) and the 2021 Third prize of the Classic Pure Vienna International Composition Competition (Vienna, Austria). Johnny Hachem is one of the most promising composers in Europe, with an extensive resume that includes prestigious awards from around the world. He has been awarded many international awards including the 2009 Music Composition Award at The International Composition Conference (Cergy -Pontoise, France). Read more information on Johnny Hachem.

I love that everything I do is to be original and unique and not only to follow the music market. At the same time I profit from the technology and the new softwares to the maximum. For example, a few years ago, I composed the orchestral music for a documentary film using only the VST instruments. I believe that I must gain from anything that can make the composition process smoother and faster but it must always meet uniqueness and genuine originality.

As for learning piano and music composition, Johnny got his training from the Lebanese higher Conservatory of Music and earned a master’s degree with distinction. Since then, there has been no looking back for him. In fact, Johnny has been composing for more than 20 years and has produced music for orchestras and chamber music. Moreover, many symphony orchestras have been playing his compositions on the stages in various countries across the world.

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.

Johnny has performed his compositions world-wide in countries including, Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, Qatar, France, Switzerland, Germany, England, Spain, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. His most notable work include his composition for the documentary film I Knocked on the Temple’s Door by Carmen Labaki, and also for composing “The Fourth Watch”, which was performed by the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra in December 2014 and “The Battle of Siddim” performed by the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra in May 2017 and by “Lublin Philharmonic orchestra”, Poland in October 2017.

I was born into a musical family. My dad, who passed away 10 months ago, used to play violin and my mom the piano. I remember very well how beautiful it was to listen to them playing music together at home and in church. And I was influenced by them a lot. But when I was a child, we had war in Lebanon and it was difficult to attend the music school, so I put a lot of time into piano improvising and trying to make my own music. My mom started to help me and after that, when the war stopped, I started studying music officialy.