“Raise your head high.”
With those words, Assala Nasri returned to a Damascus stage.
Thousands filled Al-Fayhaa Sports Hall on Thursday night as the Syrian singer returned to perform in her homeland after more than 15 years.
She paused before the crowd, visibly emotional. They answered with cheers.
Born in Damascus, the daughter of Syrian composer and singer Mustafa Nasri, Assala began singing as a child and went on to become one of the most recognisable voices in Arabic music.
Her last official performance in Syria was in February 2010.
The following year, as protests spread against Bashar al-Assad, Assala publicly supported the uprising. She refused to perform at events supporting his government and was removed from Syria’s Artists Syndicate.
In the years that followed, Assala recorded albums and performed to audiences across the Arab world. She became a familiar presence on stages throughout the region while remaining absent from the city where she had first learned to sing.
Assala released Syria Janna, a song about the country and its future. Its refrain drew on words closely associated with the uprising: “Raise your head high, you are a free Syrian.”
On Thursday night, she sang them in Damascus.
The concert was called Awdat al-Assala, the return of Assala, playing on her name and the Arabic word for authenticity.
Around 5,000 people attended, according to reports from Damascus.
Her recent Syrian album contains 14 songs representing the country’s 14 governorates, drawing on their dialects, rhythms and musical traditions.
Damascus and Aleppo. The coast and the Jazira. The Euphrates and the south.
Her return was not welcomed by everyone. Some religious figures called for the concert to be cancelled, while promotional posters were torn down in Damascus. Others questioned the place of large concerts while many Syrians continue to face economic hardship.
The concert went ahead.
Thousands had come to welcome her home.
