Tuesday 17 March, 19:00
(Doors open at 18:30)
Oslo Cathedral
Adult: 400 NOK
Senior/student: 300 NOK
Child: 100 NOK
Duration: approx. 1 hour and 20 minutes including concert introduction
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The language we hear at the concert, is classical Syrian, a variant of Aramaic that has been and is still in use as a church language in the Christian churches in large parts of the Middle East. But how did this language and these texts travel as far as Georgia? That is the question Anders Aschim poses in this evening’s concert introduction. He is professor of Religious Education at University of Inland Norway and has worked as a Hebrew teacher for theology students as well as a Bible translator.
ARAMAIC VOICES
CHOIR OF THE MONASTERY OF 13 ASSYRIAN HOLY FATHERS
SERAPHIM BIT-KHARIBI, musical direction
East of Western Church Music: Prayers and Hymns from Georgia
For the first time, the festival is visited by the Choir of the Monastery of 13 Assyrian Holy Fathers and their director, the monk Seraphim Bit-Kharibi, under the festival theme “East of Western church music”. The choir sings hymns and prayers in Aramaic, which is assumed to be the primary spoken language of Jesus. The texts come from the Old and New Testaments, and are accompanied by a cappella melodies. Variants of Aramaic are still in use as a liturgical language in many churches with roots in the Middle East. In Georgia, the ancient tradition is kept alive through the monastery work in Kanda, led by Bit-Kharibi himself. The monastery yearly receives thousands of visitors who want to experience the holy liturgy in Aramaic languages.
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Choir of the Monastery of 13 Assyrian Holy Fathers was founded by Seraphim Bit-Kharibi as an initiative to present ancient hymns and prayers in the biblical language Aramaic. The choir has garnered attention all over the world, and went viral on social media after their performance of Aramaic hymns for Pope Francis and the Vatican’s delegation in Georgia in 2016. In 2018, the choir participated in the documentary movie about Pope Francis, A Man of His Word. The choir has since been actively performing in numerous concerts.
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Serpahim Bit-Kharibi is a singer and priest with Assyrian-Georgian roots, born and raised in Georgia. In 2008, Bit-Kharibi was introduced to the patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, who invited him to become confessor of all Assyrians in Georgia. Since then, he has been leading liturgies and singing hymns in Aramaic in the Monastery of 13 Assyrian Holy Fathers in the village Kanda, which has mainly Assyrian inhabitants.
