The first concert in Lebanon since the harbor disaster

“Beirut chants hope” .. in Abeer Nehme’s voice

Abeer sang accompanied by a band from the Antonine University Choir.

Reuters

Between the edges of a church badly damaged by the Beirut port explosion, high iron columns rose in preparation for reconstruction, and behind its cracks rose columns of vocal cords singing hymns to Lebanon, seeking hope.

The notes crept into the heart of Saint Maroun Church in the Gemmayzeh area of ​​Beirut, which was severely damaged by the city’s bloody port explosion, on August 4.

At the time of the explosion, and at 6-7 minutes, the voice of the Lebanese singer Abeer Nehme rang throughout the church, accompanied by a band from the Antonine University Choir, in a concert titled: "Beirut Sing for Hope", organized by the annual "Beirut Chanting" festival.

The ceremony was broadcasted on social media, and on the Lebanese "MTV" TV.

Also, the live audio broadcast was transmitted in the streets of the capital to those who do not have accounts through social media, or to those who do not yet have access to electricity in the neighborhoods affected by the explosion of the port.

The explosion had ripped through St Maroun Church in Gemmayzeh, and the crowd of worshipers, but the church launched the restoration workshop the next day until it was able, on the evening of yesterday, to overcome its wound, and to hold the first concert in the country since the disaster.

And Abeer Nehme sang, at the ceremony, patriotic songs and religious hymns, which she considered "a prayer with the people for the souls of the victims, and for the healing of the wounded."

And Grace's voice rang out in gloomy streets, as she sang "To Beirut from my heart, Peace to Beirut."

She also performed several songs by Fayrouz, including: “The Bird's Return”, “My House is Your Home,” and “Oh My Mother,” by the Lebanese writer Gibran Khalil Gibran, and composed by the late artist Zaki Nassif.

And the song’s lyrics say: “In the dark of the night I call you Do you hear .. My family died and their eyes stared at the blackness of the sky .. In the dark of the night I call you Do you hear .. My family died and the hills of my country were inundated with tears and blood .. Woe to a nation in which its sects increased and religion is said .. woe to her".

She also sang by Lebanese singer Magda Al-Roumi, "Oh spring of love."

"We had to think about an initiative to restore the pulse to the heart of Beirut," Nehme told reporters, shortly before the ceremony began.

The (Beirut Sing) Festivals Committee decided to hold this evening, provided that it would be like a prayer in which the people of the city participate, everyone from his place of residence, due to the (Corona) pandemic.

She added, "Beirut today needs to hear a different sound from the explosion that affected it, and that caused all this destruction in it."

Despite the social distancing imposed by the Corona outbreak, many people gathered around the loudspeaker to listen to songs that touch their national and religious feelings, and expressed the hope they feel, as their city is on the way back to regain its depletion.

The city will return most beautiful

Among the crowd, the young Charbel Rayyes, who volunteered with many of his friends to help the afflicted residents, stood beside the rubble of an old Beiruti house, listening to the sweet voice of Abeer Nehme.

He told «Reuters»: «I hope that Beirut will return to the most beautiful, better and wonderful. This is our belief that this city cannot die, and it rises from among the rubble.

Abeer Nehme:

"We had to think of an initiative to restore the pulse to the heart of Beirut."

Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google news