The USEK Choir conducted by Rev. Fr. Youssef Tannous, Dean of the Faculty of Music at USEK, animated the University’s annual Christmas concert on Thursday, December 22, 2011 at John Paul II Amphitheater. 

The concert began with a word by Rev. Fr. Hady Mahfouz, USEK President, who expressed his joy in celebrating with the audience the birth of Jesus Christ. He praised as well the efforts deployed by Fr. Tannous and the choir in looking for musical heritage and reviving it, as well as seeking to spread musical innovations. Fr. Mahfouz considered that the hard work of this choir reflects the university’s concern in preserving the heritage while always moving onward.

The Christmas concert for this year was distinguished by the performance of the Voices of Christmas, a cantata composed by Wadih Sabra, the composer of the Lebanese national anthem, while he was studying music and living in Paris between 1982 and 1910. This French cantata, written by Auguste Fisch, was orchestered by Edouard Torikian and performed by a number of soloists, chorists and musicians. The concert included as well Christmas carols in several languages and a soloist performance by the tenor Elia Francis and others.

The concert ended with a special musical interlude animated by a group of children from the Faculty of Music led by Camil Mucha, who played Christmas carols on the violin, entertaining and delighting all the audience.