Nader Habib enjoys the Christmas spirit "Joy and happiness; glory and peace, in Heaven and on Earth; a return of affinity; angels bring the good news to all creatures: Jesus Christ, King of Peace, is born," go the lyrics to be sung tomorrow at the Gomhuriya Theatre by the company of the Coptic Praise of Archangel Mikhail Church in Shubra. The occasion is to celebrate both Christmas and the company's 30th anniversary. The story of the company goes back to when engineer Diaa Sabri, its director, brought together a group to sing praises inside his church. "In the very beginning the choir was formed of a number of deacons and their brothers and relatives," Sabri says. "Then many people of different ages wanted to join, and the choir was extended. Meanwhile, I found this hobby was a good way of polishing my studies at the music institute, where I stayed for two years. I managed to write the music for most of the lyrics. In the beginning, we were chanting old hymns typical of that time, but when the choir became more famous we began presenting new material." Step by step the choir absorbed members of other churches. "We have consequently become a Company of Coptic Praise, not a mere choir," Sabri says. Irine Tadrous, Sabri's wife and a member of the company, says she had long admired the choir before she came to meet Sabri himself. After that first meeting they met again on the World Day of Prayer which was held at Archangel Mikhail Church in 1980. At that time Tadrous was writing poetry and Sabri asked her to recite some of her work. It was not the first time that Irine had performed in front of a wide audience, since from early childhood she had gone with her father, a priest, to church and chanted hymns and other melodies. Sabri began to record the hymns in 1978. In 1980, the choir started performing in churches all over Egypt. "The turning point was in 2001, when our company was invited by the Cairo Opera House to take part in the 15th annual Citadel Festival for Music and Singing," Sabri says. "It was the first time we had participated in the society, and we got the chance because the festival administration needed a Coptic choir to represent this aspect of Egypt's musical heritage." In the same year, the choir was invited by Italian Cultural Centre to perform another concert on the occasion of Christmas at the small hall of the Cairo Opera House. "To mark the company's 30th anniversary we will chant new hymns, which we wrote and composed specially for tomorrow's recital," Tadrous says. "We will also perform some old hymns and melodies from our heritage. "What distinguishes our performance is that we are keen to perform Coptic hymns perfectly, preserving the spirit of the Coptic melody. We are also keen on retaining the Coptic dogma and theology when tackling biblical events such as the Nativity, but in a simple way in order to access a wider audience," she adds. The choir will also present parts of some Psalms in tomorrow's programme, as well as hymns that are performed with an orchestra. "We have been bestowed a heavenly gift," Tadrous says. "As a company, we enjoy a peaceful spirit; we are all brothers and sisters with one goal -- praise." Because children have their own way of rejoicing over Christmas, two young girl members of the choir will represent this joyful spirit. "Other groups present romantic hymns, which depend on colloquial Arabic and does not suit the manner of praising God," Sabri explains. Some groups have even turned the mawal or a ballad from Upper Egypt into hymns." Tomorrow's programme will be different, Tadrous says. The choir will begin by singing "In the beginning was the Word", followed by a hymn on Divine Incarnation originally taken from a book on the same subject written by Pope Athanasius in the third century. "Such a dedicated work required preparations that have lasted for four months," she says. "We designed the recital poster; sent invitations to churches and cultural centres, and published the invitation on Facebook. "Despite doing all of this ourselves, we are trying not to overload the church budget. We collect money from company members to cover our expenses." "The choir's next recital will be performed at the Sayed Darwish Theatre in Alexandria in March 2009 following the theme of 'Divine Love'," Sabri says. "All the hymns will address the same subject. We need to take a long break before we start our rehearsals again. It is Christmas time after all," he adds with a grin.
