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On October 31st, the children of the School of the Terra Santa “Saint Joseph,” “The Jasmine Choir,” performed at the festival “The Magical Lamp.”  Four musicians and Palestinian lyricists graciously donated 12 songs to the “Magnificat” Institute, the School of Music of the Custody of the Holy Land.  The children had the ambition of doing a much bigger project like “Zecchino d’Oro of Jerusalem,” but it was understood that the large scope of it would have been impractical.  For this reason, they started by making a foundation:  they dedicated themselves to the task of dealing with the schools, inviting people to participate as soloists and as listeners.  Moreover, the “Magnificat” Institute handled the harmonization and printing of the songs.  The publication is intended for, intentionally, the schools of the region:  with the second edition of the festival they now have 24 melodies suitable for the children.  Every year the Palestinian children will have 12 new songs for their high-pitched voices. 
The songs deal with themes on the family, of that garden that is the Holy Land and, sometimes, of the difficulty of being Palestinian, and of the longing for a peace that is late in arriving. 
Exactly for this educational reason, the Pontifical Mission of Jerusalem sponsored the second edition of the initiative; last year Mons. Emilio Lingiardi and the People of Crema sponsored and encouraged the event.
The animator and promoter of the festival was Mrs. Hania Soudah Sabbara, who directed “The Jasmine Choir.”  Mrs. Sabbara also found, in the various schools of Jerusalem, the 12 soloists that, along with the girls of St. Joseph’s School, sang the songs.  At the piano were:  Haig Vosgueritchian, Jiries Boullata and Ham Kreitem, pupils of the “Magnificat” Institute.
We remember with gratitude our Minister General of the Franciscan Friars, Father José Rodríguez Carballo, O.F.M., who was present last year at the concert.

Fr. Armando Pierucci