Songs

I discovered Corsica by chance, or perhaps by fate. This land imposed itself on me like burning evidence. From my first moments there, a disturbing feeling took hold of me, a blend of profound love and silent jealousy: love, because its mountains, its sea, and its light reminded me of Lebanon of yesteryear; jealousy, because we were not able to protect our own land with the same fervor. With time, this inner struggle faded. I understood that Corsica was neither an escape nor a refuge, but the natural continuation of my love for Lebanon: as if two distant shores shared the same soul. This sister land is inhabited by a similar telluric force, an indomitable pride, and a memory rooted in stone and song. I decided to express this attachment through music, by revisiting the emblematic song Corsica by Petru Guelfucci, like confiding a secret to the wind—halfway between homage and declaration of love.

I produced and performed the song À l'Altru Mondu as a duet with tenor Charles Eid, a work broadcast internationally in tribute to the victims of the August 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion. While singing it, I thought of mothers with broken hearts, of the heavy silences where the absence of a child resonates louder than all cries. I imagined it as a veil of tenderness draped over their shoulders, a breath of light in the darkness of their grief. This song carries the voice of a child addressing his mother from Paradise; a voice that crosses the invisible to soothe the inconsolable and plant a spark of hope: "Mom, don't worry, I am in the arms of the Lord."

In 2019, Lebanon's economic crisis struck a wounded people that was already exhausted by years of corruption. Driven by a deep thirst for freedom, my people were in search of dignity, seeking to free themselves from the ideological shackles of Mollah theocracy and to reclaim their identity. To express my revolt, I chose the song Sintineddi (The Sentinels), performed as a duet with Jean-Charles Papi. I deepened its message by infusing it with a text by Gibran Khalil Gibran in literary Arabic, to remind the world that true sentinels are the conscious and engaged citizens, those who work to preserve a country's identity by building on education as the last pillar of our civilization. Faced with the State's apathy, Lebanon's sentinels have risen. They support each other with a deep understanding that their fight is one and the same: to preserve the future of a nation through the transmission of heritage, culture, and education. Because defending education is defending Lebanon.

Following the two city twinning initiatives, I performed the Corsican anthem Dio vi Salvi Regina with the polyphonic group L'Eternu, integrating the Syriac language—an ancestral tongue derived from that of Christ, which passed through Lebanon as witness to the first expressions of faith. This piece unites two lands of belief and resistance, carrying a message both spiritual and political: Corsica and Lebanon share a destiny shaped by history, successive invasions and the constant struggle to preserve their identity. Through this chant echoes a timeless invocation: "Over our enemies, let us prevail. Then grant us eternal glory In Paradise."

A message of peace, from Corsica to the land of the Cedars. Lebanon has long been a land caught between forces beyond its control, made vulnerable by its geography and the political tensions that surround it. In a gesture of solidarity, Corsica offered me an original song written by the cultural attaché of the Bonifacio Town Hall, Alain di Meglio, and composed by Bruno Susini, whose song Hosanna in excelsis, performed by Jacques Culioli, won the 2008 Eurovision for minority languages ‒ LIET International. Cedrus Libani tells the story of a country that is the cradle of civilizations, one that, despite its wealth and beauty, endures wars and trials without ever surrendering its light.