"Sorry maestro I had to go with my family up at the mountains, down at the beach, at family reunions, or at Grandmother’s house" and many more excuses the Choir members can come up with for missing rehearsals and performances... sometimes we are just excellent in doing that, hahaha Some excuses are valid while others are simply convenient ways for uncommitted choir members to drift in and out of the choir rehearsals as they please.

Thus, finding a way to increase the number of committed members in our choir was a real challenge to the conductor and to the choir as a whole... Our maestro was up to the challenge and he made the number of 3 persons increase to the number of 50... by the work and the effort he put along with the help of our sweet director Roula Abou Baker and the perseverance of the choir members who wouldn't let go easily.... Commitment to the choir is a must. It is tough for the conductor to imagine how the music is going to be sung if he doesn’t know who is going to be there.
So came the rule of the monstrous Punctuality ... Not many enjoy showing up on time... I mean... Sometimes you should see the look on the faces of those who can't just be on time.. . Our rehearsals usually begin at 6:00 pm, but many can't make it before 6:15 pm, sometimes 6:30 pm... Well... That's not punctual, so u don't hear the sweet soft voice of our conductor any more ... He's furious... He's right... And we're doomed Once the members are present... That's it... They must give their best. Granted, there are times when they must be absent due to work or illness, but the challenge is to try to fight our illness and finish our work on time in order to run to what liberates our spirit... Singing!

Practice makes perfect.... I still remember the first time I had to look at myself in the mirror while rehearsing a song... the conductor with his famous sentence "don't worry, rely on me, CONFIDE IN ME" had a big effect on us... we looked like crazy people with our open mouths... Now... It's just normal... We are used to look ugly... hahaha

How many times do we need to get hold of a song?? You really need to watch it in order to know... If practice makes perfect... Sometimes we do repeat the same musical sentence for... I am not gonna tell... Those of you who are interested can come down to the Municipality of Tripoli each Thursday, Friday and Saturday and check out for yourselves

Personal contact between maestro and members helps build a more committed choir, that is the essence of our relationship with the conductor... We are not an ordinary choir... We are a family, we care for each other... Sometimes we fight but that won't last... It's a strange combination of needing the other and feeling the strength when united...

The Maestro always tells us "Without a choir member we are nothing... But we can easily go on without him"... for some that might be intriguing... But it does make sense... We know that each one of us is important for the cycle of the choir to continue... But we also know that if someone has to leave, it's ok, we are strong enough to prove that we can carry on...

We all aspire to be the best in our lives... While doing our job we want to be pioneer... As for the choir... We first started singing as a hobby, its' something everybody likes and we like music so why not!

But then, it was more than that... The members were hypnotized, we felt as if something was dragging us from our houses in order to sit on those white chairs at the Municipality of Tripoli, waiting for the hands of the maestro Barkev to move in order to sing, to breathe , to live... To feel happiness...

That's the choir's meaning to all of the true members... Whether old or new, we know how to cherish the fact that we are blessed with another big family...

The sole goal of the conductor was to help us experience the joy of music, he believes that the ultimate happiness is when you share music with someone, it's as if you share a piece of yourself with someone else... We believe in him...

Making music requires hours of rehearsal, sweat, tears, laughter, honesty, trust, anger, and many other emotions. Thank God we experienced them all and we are still aspiring for many more, we don't mind...