Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East presents the “Breaths of Antioch” classical evening at Damascus Opera House

On the occasion of the Feast of the Holy See of Antioch, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East presented a musical evening entitled “Breaths of Antioch,” in cooperation with the Patriarchal Spiritual Canary Choir, conducted by Archimandrite Meletios Shattahi, and the Orpheus Orchestra conducted by Maestro Andre Maalouli, on the Opera House stage at   Dar Al-Assad for Culture and Arts in Damascus.

The evening, whose guests included Father Michel Saba and Romanian opera singer Catalina Ionella Killaro, presented several tunes, including patriotic, religious and sentimental ones, with a variety of examples of Byzantine and Arabic music.

In a statement to SANA, Maestro Maalouli said: The uniqueness  of this evening lies in its embodiment of traditional religious music in an orchestral style.

 He indicated that this is not the first cooperation between the Spiritual Canary  Choir and the Orpheus Orchestra, but rather it is a project that began years ago within the framework of embodying Byzantine music and merging it with classical music with the aim of developing this traditional music that originated from Syria.

Maestro Maalouli added that Saint John of Damascus is considered the founder of Byzantine music and the rules and foundations of Byzantine music.

“Byzantine music can be considered as a Syrian heritage that we present on Syrian stages in a traditional form, and from Syria it was transmitted to the whole world” he said.