Concerts Celebrate Christmas at Assembly Hall

Tatiana Khoury

Five riveting Christmas concerts graced Assembly Hall in December. The AUB Choir was joined on December 9 with the International College Choir in a charity fundraising concert sponsored by the Ayadina Association, an organization dedicated to community development for the destitute of all religions. These fundraising events, like all others organized by Ayadina, help finance the Association's community service and development programs, which cater to the underprivileged elderly and youths in the areas of Naba'a, Sin El Fil, and Bourj Hammoud.

Robert Betts conducting the choir

Apart from the first event for which tickets were sold, all the remaining concerts were free of charge. After a successful performance in the Great Hall of Balamand Abbey on December 11, the University of Balamand Choir convened in AUB's Assembly Hall two days later to present popular selections from Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio, along with other Christmas carols and choral works. The Balamand Choir was joined in concert for the occasion by instrumentalists from the Lebanese National Symphony, as well as by soloists Maureen O'Day Nicolas, Reem Deeb, Rony Maamari, and Roy Saab. The concert, directed by Professor Robert B. Betts, featured a total of seven carols in the first part of the program, starting with a five-stanza exhilarating musical piece, Welcome Thou King of Glory, by Austrian composer Vincent Lubeck.

A dazzling performance of Christmas favorites, among them Joy to the World, Here Is the Little Door, Three Kings of Orient, and Silent Night, wrapped up the first part of the program, during which Ave Maria (Hail Mary) and Gaudete (Rejoice) were sung in Latin. The spirit of Christmas warmed Assembly Hall's packed audience as the story of the child Christ's birth was performed in detail in the verse and music of Bach's thirty-five piece classic, Weinachts Oratorium (Christmas Oratorio).

Professor Paul Meers conducting the choir

A highly eclectic AUB Choir and Choral Society concert, entitled "Tidings of Comfort and Joy", was also organized by the Fine Arts and Art History Department in collaboration with the Zaki Nassif Music Program and with the Ensemble Polyphonica and Brass Ensemble from the National Orchestra of Lebanon. The program started with Verbum Caro Factum (The Word Was Made of Flesh), a Christmas song taken from the repertoire known as Gregorian Chant, whose pieces were supposedly codified by Pope Gregory I in the sixth century. A succession of three famous Renaissance Christian pieces by Hans Leo Hassler came next, followed by a small portion of the program of French Medieval and Renaissance music.

The program typically concluded with a selection of delightful Christmas carols, among them the new, first-performed carol of David Kurani, acting chair of the Department of Fine Arts and Art History. Three pieces on the program were performed in Arabic and paid homage to their composer Zaki Nassif, the father of modern Arabic song. The concert was held on December 17 and repeated the following evening, much to the enjoyment of the packed audiences who clustered around AUB's Christmas tree after every concert. The Choir was accompanied by Ramzi Sabra on the organ, who sang under the baton of conductor Paul Meers.

On December 19, expatriate musician Tatiana Primak Khoury gave a piano recital organized by the Ukrainian Embassy. Her concert featured the classical music of Chopin, Lysenko, and others. Finally, four nights before Christmas Eve, the renowned AUB soprano Reem Deeb performed the last Christmas concert of the year, which was accompanied by pianist Olga Bolun and the Beirut String Quartet.