Though Lebanese band Mashrou' Leila's concert at this year's Byblos International Festival was canceled, the band still managed to take center stage at one of its events.
Over the weekend, Chinese-American musician Yo-Yo Ma performed his scheduled concert at the festival but made sure to object to the cancelation of the Lebanese band's concert in his very own way.
In a poignant tribute to the group - whose concert was canceled after its music was attacked by fundamentalist Christian groups - the cellist closed his show with one of the band's songs, Tayf. Read more via Stepfeed
Yo Yo Ma played Tayf by Mashrou' Leila (@mashrou3leila) in his concert in Jbeil. I am speechless and moved.
— Max (@BlueCoffee__) August 24, 2019
Music is universal, no one can ever change that.
You can stop the original artists from playing, but you can't stop their music from spreading.
Here is Yo Yo Ma's rendition pic.twitter.com/7H6g5Tiw9V
Yo Yo Ma @yoyo_ma honoring us by playing Mashrou' Leila's Tayf at #AUB@DrFadloKhuri pic.twitter.com/seWvgpbfMI
— AUB (@AUB_Lebanon) August 25, 2019