Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour choir

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The choir was initially founded in 2010 to perform Taizé prayers and chants every Friday during the fasting period. It was formed of a small group of secondary school students, 25 singers and 5 musicians.
At first, the founders were not expecting the choir to take off the way it did!

The initiators of the project are Father Denis Meyer S.J, who is currently the spiritual leader of the school and M. Haytham Azzi, a music instructor who graduated from Kaslik University with a Master’s degree in musicology.
Following the success of the weekly Taizé prayer, the choir decided to perform during the annual college fair. And so the journey began!

In 2011, a year after the first concertwas held, the College Notre Dame de Jamhour founded its music school with the accreditation of the Lebanese Government. The school rector Father Bruno Sion Sj, the spiritual leader Father Denis Meyer sj, the supervisor of sports and artistic activities Miss Alice Keyrouz fully supported M. Haytham Azzi, who initiated the project and is today the music school’s director.
One objective of this project was to provide students with music lessons, in order to eventually enlarge the choir and the Orchestra.
By 2011, the choir members’ number increased to 70 singers and 10 musicians.
In 2015, the number of participants grew to 90 singers and around 30 musicians, as some of the music school students and teachers decided to join the orchestra. The orchestra consisted of a complete string section (Classical guitar, violin I & II, viola, cello and double bass), woodwinds (flute, oboe, clarinet, and alto sax), brass (trumpet) and percussions (piano and classical percussions). As for the oriental repertoire, the ensemble was joined by a nay, oud and oriental percussions.
All solo singers were classical singing students in the music school. The leading singer was their teacher Ms. Corinne Haddad Azzi, who contributed a lot in refining the raw sound of the choir.

Since its launch, the choir has participated in many events.

2010-2011

• The closing of the Jesuit week in December 2010.
• The Divine Liturgy presided by the General President of the Jesuits worldwide, Father Adolfo Nicolas, during his visit to Lebanon in March 2011.
• Annual Recital during the school fair in May 2011.

2011-2012

• The closing of the Jesuit week in December 2011.
• The Divine Liturgy presided by Patriarch Al Rai at the school, during his pastoral visit to the diocese of Beirut in February 2012.
• Annual Recital during the school fair in May 2012.

2012-2013

• The closing of the Jesuit week in December 2012.
• Christmas recital at Notre Dame de Jamhour church in December 2012.
• Christmas recital at St. Joseph University in December 2012.
• The New Year’s Recital in St. Judas Tadao Church in Rome- Italy, during the European gatherings of Taizé in 2012.
• Annual Recital during the school fair in May 2013.

2013-2014

• Recital held in the Cathedral of Saint Raphael for the Chaldeans, Lebanon, October 2013.
• The closing of the Jesuit week in December 2013.
• Christmas Recital in Notre Dame de Jamhour church, with the participation of Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint Marc, from the movie «Les Choristes», December 2013.
• Christmas Recital in Saint Georges Church in Byblos in December, 2013.
• “La fête islamo chretienne” concert in Saint-Joseph des Pères Jésuites church, Beirut, March 2014.
• Annual recital during the school fair, March 2014.
• Classical music concert for “la fête de la musique”, June 2014.

2014-2015

• The Closing of the Jesuit week in December 2014.
• Christmas recital held at Notre Dame de Jamhour church, December 2014.
• New Year's Eve Prayer during the European gatherings of Taizé in 2014, in St. Ignacio of Loyola Church in the city of Prague-Czech Republic.
• “La fête islamo chretienne” concert in Collège Sacré-Cœur church, Gemmayzé, on March 24th, 2015.
• Annual recital during the school fair, March 2015.
• Classical music concert for “la fête de la musique”, June 2015.

2015-2016

• Solemn mass and inaugural ceremony for the memorial of the war’s martyrs at Notre Dame de Jamhour church, November 2015.
• The Jesuit week’s concert, December 4th, 2015.
• Music’s chamber « Feuilles d’automne » concert held at the Cultural Center’s school, December 5th.
• Prayer of Taizé at the sœurs Franciscaines church in Badaro, during the presence of brother Alois, Prior of the Taizé community, December 2015.
• Christmas recital with the participation of « La Voix d’antan » choral, held at Notre Dame de Jamhour church, December 2015.
• Christmas recital during the « Beirut Chants » festival, December 2015.
• Music’s chamber « Vents d’hiver » concert held at the Cultural Center’s school, on February 8th, 2016.
• The Closing of a three – week-ends – training series with Ibrahim Maalouf, celebrity Trumpet player, March 12th, 2016.
• The Annunciation concert held at Église Saint-Maron, Gemmayzé, on April 3rd, 2016.
• Music’s chamber « Fleurs de printemps » concert held at the Cultural Center’s school, on April 9th, 2016.
• Solemn mass and concert during the school fair, March 8th, 2016.
• Musical intermission during the book signing of Mr. Sami Bou Atmé, held at the Cultural Center’s school, on June 10th, 2016.
• Classical music concert for “la fête de la musique”, June 2016.
• Classical Song concert presented by Mrs Corinne Haddad Azzi’s students, July 16th, 2016.
• Participation in the International Festival of choir songs in Vérone « Verona Garda Estate », from the 18th  till the 25th of July, 2016.

2016-2017

• Independence concert on November 12th, 2016.
• Music’s chamber « Feuilles d’automne » concert held at the Cultural Center’s school, on December 5th, 2016.
• Prayer of Taizé at the Patriarcat de Bkerké, during the presence of the Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al Rai, Brother Jean-Jacques, and Brother Maxime from the Taizé community.
• Music’s chamber « Vents d’hiver » concert held at the Cultural Center’s school, on February 4th, 2017.
• Music’s chamber « Fleurs de printemps » concert held at the Cultural Center’s school, on April 8th, 2017.

As for the Repertoire, the Choir has interpreted songs of senior composers:

• Maronite liturgy: Father Joseph Khoury, the father Dr. Louis-Haj, Father Joseph el Achkar, Father Dr. Joseph Tannous, Father Dr. Milad Tarabay and Bechara Farzan.
• Latin liuturgy: Mgr. Marco Frisina, Didier Rimaud, and Jacques Bertier.
• Popular Lebanese music: The Rahbani, Zaki Nassif, Wadih el Safi, and Ziad Rahbani.
• Lebanese scholarly music: Georges Baz, Irma Toudjain, Bechara el Khoury, Haytham Azzi, and Toufic Succar.
• Western scholarly music: J. Caccini, A. Vivaldi, J.P. Rameau, J.S. Bach, W.A. Mozart. F. Schubert, G. Verdi, J. Strauss, Léo Delibes, C. Orff, E. Elgar, O. Reiding, J. Brahms, G. Ph. Telemann, Gabriel Fauré, G. F. Haendel, J Haydn, G. De Marzi, F. Chopin, P. I. Tchaïkovski, and A. Dvořák.
• Movie soundtracks: John Williams, Bruno Coulais, Richard Rodgers, Philippe Rombi, Joe Hisaishi, and Claude-Michel Schönberg.
• Contemporary music: Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Bob Dylan, and Jean-Jacques Goldman.

Practicing music allows students to refine their souls and to familiarize them with the meaning of commitment. The practice of music improves their humanitarian, musical, technical, interpretation and execution skills, which abide by the Jesuit’s multifaceted objectives.