Choir of joy
| Choir of joy | |
|---|---|
| Seat: | Damascus / Syria |
| Carrier: | Melkite Church of Our Lady of Damascus |
| Founding: | 1977 |
| Genus: | mixed choir |
| Founder: | Father Elias Zahlawi |
| Head : | Riad Moawad |
| Voices : | 500 (SATB) |
| Website : | alfarahchoir.com |
The choir of joy ( Arabic جوقة الفرح, DMG Ǧawqat al-Faraḥ , also Jawqat al Farah ) is a church choir at the Melkite Church of Our Lady of Damascus in the Syrian capital Damascus , which was founded by Father Elias Zahlawi . With 500 choir members, it is the largest and most famous church choir in the country.
history
The Choir of Joy was founded in 1977, two years after the Melkite Church of Our Lady of Damascus was completed , by Elias Zahlawi , the parish priest responsible for youth work and church music , with 50 children of both sexes. The choir made its first appearance at a service on December 24, 1977 in the Church of Our Lady of Damascus. The choir enjoyed increasing popularity and was very popular. In 2010 it already had 500 members between the ages of 7 and 70 from different Christian churches of different denominations in Damascus.
Over time, the choir's performances were no longer limited to church services, but were also sung in concert halls, and the choir gained widespread media coverage in Syria. From 2009 it is reported that the concerts in the Advent season in the Damascus Opera House ran for several days and concert tickets were quickly sold out. The concert program consisted of Christian Advent and Christmas carols as well as winter songs.
The choir also had international appearances, for example at the Arabesque Festival 2009 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC After 2011, Elias Zahlawi organized concerts for the choir in Syria and various countries in Europe. Other appearances in Syria that attracted greater media attention included a concert in Palmyra in May 2016 after the Daesh (IS) was expelled from there and a performance in the central prison of Damascus in November 2019.
On December 20, 2019, the choir in the Church of Mary Queen of Peace in Homs performed for the first time since the beginning of the civil war and the reconquest of the city by government troops, at which Gregorian chants were performed. In addition to Riad Moawad, now director of the “Choir of Joy”, the founder of the choir, Elias Zahlawi, was also present.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ الكاهن المؤسس لجوقة الفرح , 2010, accessed on June 1, 2020.
- ^ Andreas Bandak: (7.) Performing the Nation. Syrian Christians on the National Stage. In: Leif Stenberg, Christa Salamandra: Syria from Reform to Revolt: Volume 2: Culture, Society, and Religion. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse (New York) 2015. pp. 110-129.
- ↑ Michael Dolan, Michael Shohl: The Nation's Stage: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 1971–2011. Simon & Schuster, New York 2011. pp. 135, 138.
- ^ Georges Fahmi: The Future of Syrian Christians after the Arab Spring. European University Institute (Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies), Badia Fiesolana, San Domenico di Fiesole (FI, Italy) 2018. p. 9 (in PDF: p. 11).
- ^ Gate of the Sun event held at Palmyra Amphitheater. Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), May 6, 2015.
- ↑ Al-Farah Choir performs a concert at Damascus Central Prison. Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), November 6, 2019.
- ↑ مثال جمول- أمسية تراتيل ميلادية لفرقة جوقة الفرح في كنيسة سيدة السلام بحمص. Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), December 20, 2019.