|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
David Ensemble
was established in 1975 and was composed of four artists;
George Kyrillos, the conductor of the ensemble, chanter and
lute player, Nagi Fayek a pianist, Edward Hanna a violinist
and Moris Aziz a guitarist. They specialized in performing
“Coptic Hymns” which are about 2000 years old and have
survived the past centuries and reached us by handing them
over from generation to generation through ‘oral
tradition’.
This hymnal
tradition is considered the natural continuation of the
Pharaonic hymns, and the existence of which of which due to
its preservation by the Coptic Orthodox Church is considered
to be a miracle that astonished the entire world.
The ensemble
is also distinguished for presenting the psalms which were
written and composed by David the Prophet about 5000 years
ago, the music of which had perished and nothing has remained
but its meaningful words which fathom the soul and scare the
spiritual hosts of wickedness. The ensemble tried to put the
music for these psalms in a deep spiritual and scientific way,
which made a lot of people feel that these tunes might be
those that have been composed by David the Prophet himself.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
David Ensemble
has performed several times all over Egypt, including a
participation in the Christmas 2000 celebration at the Cairo
Opera House, a performance at the
American University in Cairo (AUC) and at both the French and
Italian Cultural Centres.
In addition,
they participated in a number of international festivals
abroad such as the two famous performances that were organized
by the Egyptian Centre for culture and arts ‘Al-Yasmina’
at the ‘Festival of Sacred Arts’ that was held in Paris,
France in December 1995 and ‘Orient Festival’ in
Stockholm, Sweden in June 1997.
The ensemble
also performed ‘Golgotha’ hymn, which has pharoanic roots
that date back five thousand years, accompanied by the Sophia
Philharmonic Orchestra and the choir of the district of Venice
in two great performances at the Marceille Opera House and the
Basilic Cathedral in Saint-Denis in Paris in 1998. There ,
Monica George – twelve years old and the youngest member of
the ensemble , presented a solo performance accompanied
by the lute that fascinated the French audience. Upon the
invitation of the Egyptian Embassy in France, David Ensemble
performed in January 2000 in the Arab World Institute in Paris
and in the southern French city Agd. |
|
|
Photos
from the places where the Ensemble had performed.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
The biggest
international and local newspapers and magazines had written
in admiration of the ensemble for its outstanding performance.
From the famous newspapers that wrote about the ensemble were
the French ‘Le Figaro’, the Swedish ‘D.N.’ and the
Egyptian ‘Al-Ahram’, ‘Al-Akhbar’ and “Wattany”, in
addition to the international magazines like “Re-Orient”,
“Musical”, “Le Politan” and the 1995 edition of Paris
municipality book.
Worldwide
radio and television channels have also broadcast several
records for the ensemble and interviews with the leader and
founder of the ensemble, the conductor George Kyrillos. Among
those channels were ‘Ben Ali TV’, ‘Min. Spr. Red.TV’,
‘Miniatyr TV’, ‘Arab Radio’, ‘TV-reports’ and
‘Can Saydam Radio’.
David
ensemble has also set the sound track of many religious films
that were directed by the great Egyptian director ‘Samir
Seif’, such as the films ‘Saint Mina’ in 1989, ‘Saint
Barsoum the bare’ in 1990 and ‘Saint Demiana’ in 1991.
The ensemble
has released a lot of records including a series of albums
titled ‘Christ’s Crucifixion’, ‘The Resurrection’,
‘Comforts’ and ‘The Virgin’. They have also released a
CD that was produced by Arab World Institute in Paris and
participated in the CD titled ‘The Egyptian Mozart’
produced by Virgin Classics Ltd. with the organization from
The Egyptian Centre for Cultural and Arts managed by Dr. Ahmed
Al-Maghraby (who holds the position of the Cultural Attaché
of Egypt in Paris). The latest album the ensemble has released
was titled ‘Early Coptic Hymns’ (as a cassette and CD)
that included hymns from the holy liturgy for example ‘Hiten
ni presvia’, ‘Agios’ and ‘Amen ton thanton’; hymns
from the midnight praise such as ‘Arihouo-Chasf’ and
‘Aripsalin’; and from those chanted in the Holy Week like
‘Golgotha’. |
|
|
What
does the press say about the Ensemble.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
And over the
past twenty four years, since the ensemble has started its
ministry, a large number of professional players and chanters
who possess scientific degrees in music such as Ph.D., Masters
and Diploma joined the ensemble until the number of members
reached 27. The famous cantor, ‘Ibrahim Ayad’, the
disciple of his holiness “Pope Shenouda III”, also joined
the ensemble in presenting a large number of performances
inside and outside Egypt.
The ensemble
has gained wide popularity as it is distinguished for
presenting the Coptic hymns and psalms with an attractive
spiritual and scientific style, and for the truthful
performance overflowing with emotions by the choir members who
were selected with great care.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Throughout the
past 25 years, David ensemble was able to be a guide and a
lighthouse on the praising path and transferred it from the
local scale of amateurish and unprofessional work to the
worldwide scale of professionalism and the scientific way
mixed with the spiritual performance.
However, the
ensemble was not satisfied by just composing and presenting
several performances, but it contributed to the establishing
of a number of religious groups and orchestras such as ‘The
Coptic Church Orchestra and Choir’ and ‘Nazer Al-Ilah
Orchestra and Choir’ but itself remained the leader and the
most distinguished among the rest of groups which appeared
during this period of time
|
|
|
