It is the only organ festival to take place entirely in Lebanon, and despite organisational difficulties due to coronavirus restrictions it reached its sixth edition this year. The Lebanese Organ Week took place from April 13 to 18, a series of pipe organ concerts promoted by the School of Music of Notre Dame University and the Terra Sancta Organ Festival with the support of the Italian Institute of Culture in Beirut and the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Lebanon. The event, to which only a small number of spectators were admitted at the last moment, was broadcast live by Tele Lumiere/Noursat. Br RICCARDO, ofm Curator of the Terra Sancta Organ Festival "It's like a sign of a new start. Usually, when there is a crisis, the first to restart is culture: we wanted to give this sign and we strongly wanted to do this festival again this year, despite all the difficulties we knew we would face." Not only the pandemic - dates, venues and times of the festival have been changed twice - not only the serious economic situation in the country, the five-date schedule is due to the fact that the organs of two churches were severely damaged in the August 2020 explosion at the Beirut port. Br KHALIL RAHMEH Director Lebanese Pipe Organ Week "Where there is an organ there is a church, and where there is a church there is a Christian community. This festival is the contribution of Christians in the field of high culture in the area of music, because organ music here is perceived as Christian music." But from the church of the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land in Harissa to those of Ajaltoun, Zouk Mosbeh and Mayssra to the National Evangelical Church in Beirut, the Festival has, as usual, set its sights on a much wider audience than just Christians. Br RICCARDO, ofm Curator of the Terra Sancta Organ Festival "The idea of the SOL Festival is the same as that of the Terra Sancta Organ Festival, of which it is part. It is to allow everyone to listen to the sound of the organ and the organ repertoire, which would otherwise be closed to many because organs are mainly found in churches and are dedicated to liturgical celebrations, and therefore many would not be able to participate." Read More