Meet Peter Jam!
By Niko Mamula and Hugh Taft-Morales
Award-winning global rights activist, composer, quadrilinguist, and professional dog behaviorist—Peter Jam does it all. On any given day, you might see him at Rittenhouse Square, training dogs or dropping by the Ethical Society for a visit. He’s a fascinating person with an intriguing life story. Jam (an abbreviation of his surname, Jambazian) was born to Lebanese-Armenian parents in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War. His grandfather, for whom he was named, was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide, and lived in the Armenian quarter of old city Jerusalem, where Peter’s father was born. When his father was a teenager, the family moved to Lebanon. Peter was very fond of soccer as a child, so much so that he once considered pursuing a career as a pro player.
He also loved animals. He didn’t have any, but his uncle did. “I always wanted to go and visit them,” says Jam, “because there were dogs there.” Then he discovered a new passion—guitar, realizing “it’s more creative to be with the guitar than the ball.” As a teen, Jam practiced music eight hours a day and, at 19, started giving lessons. Affording lessons for himself was a struggle, however. “I come from a modest family,” Jam says, “so I had to work.” His father sent him to a jewelry workshop, an “Armenian heritage thing,” but Jam never lost sight of his passion for musical creativity. He formed a school band called “Vibrations”— the same name as his debut album. His love for music impelled him to look towards America, but 9/11 put that dream on hold. After working a few years as a guitar teacher and technician, Jam confronted a series of serious health challenges.
In 2004 he was found to have a condition whereby his body was unable to regulate its temperature, causing him great suffering. He overcame that, but in 2006 was diagnosed with stage-four cancer. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma was serious enough, but Jam’s life was put in immediate danger when his surgeon fainted during a biopsy and nearly pierced his lung. Thankfully, Jam survived, but subsequent chemotherapy made him severely anemic—another threat to his life. As if things weren’t bad enough, in July 2006, Beirut became a battleground between Israeli war planes and Hezbollah militants in its southern suburbs. During his many trips to the hospital, Jam heard warplanes thunder overhead.
Surviving so many threats to his life, questions flooded his mind, driving Jam to “look deeper.” From his near-death experiences, new motivation emerged. Jam began to do the things he had only thought about doing before. He adopted a new mentality, turning his concerns away from the future to live in the present. He put it this way: “You always think that you have enough time and then suddenly you wake up—oh, I’m going to die.” Jam’s new mission was to travel. He visited dozens of countries throughout Europe and the world with his beloved dog Boogie, performing his first major peace song, “If You Want.” He sang and spoke out, having received the title “Ambassador for Peace” from the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Peter Jam and friend in Rittenhouse Square. Jam came to Philadelphia where, at City Hall, City Council granted him an honorary citation as a peace-building artist. After receiving this award, he felt a calling that Philadelphia should be his lasting home.
Upon gaining “Artist with Extraordinary Abilities” status, Jam became a permanent resident of the U.S. He continued to use his musical talents to promote peace at international gatherings and at the Ethical Society, where he has sung at Peace Day Philly events. In America his passion for animals was rekindled. He worked with a German organization for animal rights, earned a professional trainer/instructor certificate in Scranton, PA, and subsequently received a pet psychology degree in the United Kingdom. His passions exist in a cycle, “guitars, creativity, then dogs.” In the midst of the pandemic, he founded Magic Dogs, a training and instruction service. His aim is to fundamentally change pet training from forced obedience to reciprocated trust and friendship. His relational approach to dog education intrigued Hugh Taft-Morales, Leader of the Ethical Society.
With a philosophy of promoting ethics through relationship building, Taft-Morales says, “Why only focus on human beings? All sentient creatures matter.” “I don’t train with treats,” says Jam. “Your presence can be a reward.” The crucial aspect of a relationship between pet and human is that the dog must feel it can depend on the owner or guardian. A well-behaved dog should always be looking at the owner, waiting for their guidance before acting. He also pointed out an innocent yet potentially harmful mistake some dog owners make. Because the dog is continually treated as a puppy, it is conditioned to behave as one. You wouldn’t want a 60-80-pound dog jumping up on people like a puppy, would you? Now, Jam is looking to expand Magic Dogs to include education for owners. He feels that training dogs isn’t enough to truly instill a robust relationship between pet and owner. He believes that owners often indirectly reinforce bad behavior.
According to the Magic Dogs website, instruction provides “utmost and optimal communication.” Jam notes that some people don’t understand how the training works: they bring him their dog “as if it’s an iPhone” with a sort of “take it and fix it” attitude. By building upon his current approach, Jam hopes to deepen the ethical connection between dogs and their owners. Say hello to him next time you see him with doggie clients in Rittenhouse Square.
Niko Mamula is an Intern at the Ethical Society, where Hugh Taft-Morales serves as Clergy Leader
Peter Jam, award-winning global rights activist, composer, and peace educator, has been appointed by Steve Schappert as the Ambassador of Peace for BIOS Ministries International Inc. Recognized by the United Nations as an “Ambassador for Peace,” Peter brings his lifelong commitment to harmony, his PeaceBuilding Forum workshops, and his passion for music and culture to BIOS. In this role, he helps connect the mission of providing food, shelter, faith, and health with the deeper work of building trust, compassion, and lasting peace in communities worldwide.
FaithFest and the PeaceBuilding Forum come together as two expressions of the same mission — to celebrate diversity, nurture understanding, and create peace. At FaithFest, music and art unite people across faiths and cultures, while the PeaceBuilding Forum equips attendees with practical tools in conflict resolution, nonviolent communication, and intercultural dialogue. Together, they blend inspiration with education: FaithFest stirs the heart, and the PeaceBuilding Forum strengthens the mind, ensuring that the joy of the festival transforms into lasting skills that build stronger, more compassionate communities.
