I guess you can say I was super lucky to have been in Tripoli this past Friday. I was out and about with a friend in a city that is slowly but surely celebrating Christmas: trees, decorations, traffic, bustling people everywhere. What only Tripoli offers Lebanon in form of our national Christmas spirit is their very own Fayha Choir, named after the city from which they emanated. The choir in question usually holds recitals in some of Tripoli’s churches, as well as other places in the country, to celebrate the occasion. They have also been on international tours, received international recognition for what they do, and reached the semi-finals of Arabs Got Talent 3 years ago.
It so happened that they had a recital that very day. It was only evident that we go.
To say I was blown away would be an understatement.
Founded in 2003, the choir started as an 8-people unit until it expanded into the 40+ phenomenon that it is today. They are conducted by Barkev Taslakian, a very impressive person who has shaped the choir into the form it is in today.
I daresay it’s not only Lebanon’s leading a-cappella choir, it’s the region’s by far.
I was told that this blog has recently turned into an obituary. Tripoli’s Fayha Choir have blown me away so much that I am writing my first full on positive entry in a long time just to shed a spotlight on this wonderful collection of Lebanese talent. No buts.
Christmas spirit isn’t about flashy, expensive and gifts under a tree. True Christmas spirit is about giving and sharing. The Fayha Choir is sharing with us their voices. That choir, which holds people of different sects and following, in a city that has – for the past several years – been told that such joyful moments should not be in its destiny, is reaching out to each other and to us, uniting their voices to sing for unity, for peace, for what religions call for but very few actually implement.
I wish them nothing but success. This past Friday, they made me proud because they are making it against all odds. They are making me proud because they have Muslims singing for the Son of Man and Christians chanting all the names of Allah. They are making me proud because for the first time in a long time I’ve seen people do something not because it brings them money or fame or recognition, but just because they are madly in love with what they do and it shows in every single flawless note they utter. And that is the best kind.
So it is because I am proud that I mention the names of the choir’s members one by one to thank them:
- Farah Nahhas
- Aiman Saadieh
- Fatma Shehadeh
- Abdallah Adib
- Ghina Adib
- Bassem Suleyman
- Carlo Dawra
- Ahmad Al Kheir
- Joanna Asmar
- Mohammad Abdul Aal
- Maryam Hamdan
- Ahmad Darwish
- Mona el Sheikh
- Elie Hanna
- Maya el Sharif
- Ihab Taha
- Nadine Finge
- Hatem Khodr
- Roula Abou Baker
- Jack Fallah
- Negdar Palazian
- Mahmoud Mawass
- Mennat Allah
- Mohammad Mashloush
- Nour Ziadeh
- Mubadda Younes
- Nour Haddad
- Mustafa Bayrouti
- Reina Merhebi
- Mohammad Abou Baker
- Reem Abdi
- Panos Keborkian
- Mouna Ayoubi
- Sadir Abdul Hadi
- Alma Yakhni
- Paul Boulos
- Shaza Sharif
- Tarek Abdel Fattah
- Hala Amin
- Rami Dandachi
- Nizar Abdi
- Taha Ghomrawi
- Hanadi Amin
- Rania Habbouchi
- Oussama Charaf Eddine
Why such talents are not yet a household name in Lebanon is beyond me. Check out their Facebook page for their upcoming perfomances. You won’t be disappointed.
Filed under: Lebanon
