Damascus, SANA –Led by Maestro Habib Suleiman and in cooperation with Orpheus Orchestra, al-Farah (Joy) Choir performed on Wednesday a pioneering work under the title of “He is Risen Indeed…Syria Will Certainly Rise” at Damascus-based Opera House.
Featuring hymns of the Holy Week from several rituals in six languages, the concert could create a unique melding of religious spiritual rite depicting Christ’s Passion and Resurrection and the artistic rapture fruited by the high musical and lyrical performance.
Founder of al-Farah Choirs, Priest Elias Zahlawi, told SANA that “We are marking the days of the Holy Week and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ… it is symbolic in a way, because we believe that Syria, just like Jesus, will defeat death and resurrect.”
Orpheus Orchestra Maestro, Andre al-Maalouli, said the concert embracing 150 musicians and vocalists, expresses our pleasure to convey a message of love to the Syrian society because love, fraternity and harmony are the main pillar of living together.
Maestro al-Maalouli expressed great joy over the high turnout of concert, saying “the audience splendidly interacted with us… we grasped the feeling that the concert has touched their souls seeking the salvation of the war-weary country.”
Al-Farah Choirs is the Church of Our Lady of Damascus’s Chorus. It was founded by Priest Elias Zahlawi in 1977 and includes 500 chanters whose ages range from seven to seventy. It is divided into five choruses according to the age. The Choirs bears religious, nationalistic and humane objectives in a renewable pattern.
Orpheus is a professional orchestra founded by Andre al-Maalouli in 2004. It performs international music in a simple and desirable way as to spread this sort of music inside the country and become more popular to all people.
Rasha Milhem/ Barry