“We have heard too many sounds of wars. Music uplifts our souls.” The music festival (the only one in Syria, in time of conflict) organized by the Custody of the Holy Land.”
The Terra Sancta Organ Festival is the international festival of organ music organized by the Custody of the Holy Land in all the countries where the Custody is present. In the Middle East, the organ is often perceived as a purely Christian instrument because it is almost exclusively found in churches. The festival becomes a meeting point to invite music lovers, regardless of their religious affiliation.
The winter festival took place in Lebanon and Syria from January 29 to February 15 2017. In recent years, Lebanon has been witnessing a renewed interest in the greatest of all musical instruments: in fact, many pipe organs have been restored and new ones are being built. Here, the festival is called the Lebanese Pipe Organ Week and is an incentive to this renaissance, thanks to all the performances by organists of international level, in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame.
In Syria, the Terra Sancta Organ Festival is organized with the collaboration of the Higher Institute of Music and is called “Damascus Pipe Organ Week”: this is the only international exhibition that remains active in the country during war, as a sign of solidarity that goes beyond the crisis.