Choirs from six countries perform popular Cypriot song

Choir festival Choral Crossroads typically takes place every few years on the island. This year, however, it’s going to be yet another festival to happen in virtual form, bringing together 42 choir performers of various ages from Lebanon, Hungary, Jordan, Greece, France and Cyprus.

It’s an event that began in 2011 with live choir concerts in Cyprus and continued in 2013, 2018 and 2019. In 2018 Choral Crossroads was honoured with the European Year of Cultural Heritage logo by the European Commission. The organisation creates bridges between West and East, through music, combining elements of the musical and cultural heritage of Europe and the Middle East.

“Despite the fact that this year the 42 choir members could not come together on a physical stage in Limassol,” the organisers say, “they practised their verses in their own countries, and united their voices to perform the popular song, ‘I Milia’ in the Cypriot dialect, incorporating cultural elements from the West and the East.”

The offstage virtual choir moved to YouTube this year (@Epilogi Cultural Movement), since the performers’ physical presence on a stage in Limassol was not possible due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. “The power of music crossed national borders, and connected people and their voices,” added the organisers.

The music video submitted by each choir may have been created in isolation brought on by the pandemic but how all the videos were combined – both visually and with sound – aimed at conveying a spirit of solidarity and optimism. The song underlines the deep desire of the human being to reunite with others, both on an individual and a social level. Watch the offstage virtual choir performance on Epilogi Cultural Movement’s YouTube channel.

Follow Epilogi Cultural Movement’s Facebook page for updates. http://www.epilogi.org/. Tel: 99-726279