For almost twenty years now, Fayha Choir has filled Lebanese and international theaters with its remarkable performances.
Now, the Minister of Culture, Judge Muhammad Wissam Al-Mortada, announced that Fayha Choir has become the first National Choir of Lebanon.
Their music is the kind that the ear follows up and down, clinging to the sounds as if they will never be played again. Maestro Barkev Taslakian guides his singers into an arrangement of sounds and voices so filled with a purity that you can’t help but close your eyes and listen.
From now on, Fayha Choir will represent Lebanon in local and international settings. This hopefully aids to present to the world a beautiful, artistic and cultural Lebanon, instead of a fallen and broken one.
Fayha Choir also aims to develop and spread Arabic music and express its richness in its own unique style.
Maestro Taslakian told 961 that they initially cared that Lebanon has a National Choir because it was the only country that did not have one. Taslakian said that they are very proud to be the first National Choir in Lebanon.
It is also important to note that the National Choir of Lebanon is associated directly with the Ministry of Culture, not the Conservatory.
Taslakian feels that Fayha Choir represents Lebanon in the way that it is intercultural and contains people from all regions, religions, and classes.
They are now planning to hold concerts all over Lebanon, especially in the places that are marginalized, and will not only focus on Beirut. Taslakian told 961 that they wish to “cultivate dreams in the Lebanese youth and inspire them to become artists”.
Fayha Choir also wants to inspire other professional choirs to become national ones, since the Ministry of Culture is now actively searching for ways to support Lebanese talent.
Taslakian shared with us that now that Fayha Choir has become the Lebanese National Choir, they are much more pressured and required to be better and up to par.
They now share the responsibility of representing the country to the world.
He stated that they are ambitious and strive to be much better, despite the fact that they have won several international awards. “This is only the beginning,” Taslakian said about their goals to come.
Among the upcoming projects of the Lebanese National Choir of Fayha is their participation in World Peace Day in Spain on September 17th, 2022.
As a final note, Taslakian stresses the role of the media in shedding light on Lebanese choirs and talent that deserve to be seen, heard, and encouraged as little attention has been given to them by the local media outlets.
Related: The Story Behind The German Documentary Of Lebanon’s Fayha Choir.
