The VIII. NAPS International Ecumenical Concert of Sacral Songs 2012

The VIII. International Concert was opened with the tribute paid to the national anthems of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Republic of Cyprus – presiding country of the Council of the European Union, the Slovak Republic and the EU.

Mr. Martin Jedinák, the conferencier of the event welcomed the gusts on behalf of the organizers at the beginning of the concert.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to Slovakia H. E. Mr. Marios Kountourides: “I am sure, that if we search the depth of our souls we will discover, to our surprise that, at some point in our lives, we all dreamed of creating something beautiful, which went beyond the narrow confines of ourselves, where the “I” became “Us”.

“We are proud to join you in this festival of Sacral Music which we regard as a call for sanity in our troubled world. … This concert is like a candle lighting the darkness in a troubled world, providing a moment of beauty, a moment of peace and serenity, reminding the followers of all faiths that our God is one!” said H. E. prof. Kamel S. Abu Jaber, Director of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies in Amman, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, personal legate of His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal.

Beautiful Western Roman Catholic mass songs performed by the Choir of St. Cecilia together with chamber orchestra Musica Cassovia.

The choir Chorus Comenianus at the Ján Amos Komenský Grammar School in Košice was given great and sincere applause.

Members of the 20 year old Church Choir of the Blessed Bishop Pavol Peter Gojdič from Vranov nad Topľou – Čemerné filled the hall of the State Theatre with beautiful Old Slavonic prayers typical for Greek Catholic Church.

Rose Alwerr, a young Jordan singer enchanted the guests with the prayer I Believe and 51 psalm in Arabic language.

Historically Reformed Choir Kantus from Hungarian Debrecen under the baton of prof. Sándor Bérkesi provided the guests with an exceptional and professional art of singing.

The Choir of Medieval Music Sirin from Moscow and their prayers from 15 – 18 Century enchanted all the guests.

Again an experience. Jewish and Aramaic songs performed by the Slovak singer Jana Orlická and her band: guitar Kašuba, piano Mirek Hanák and drums Vitězslav Vavrda, all members of the acclaimed Gustav Brom Band, together with Peter Kořínek, composer and contrabass player.

The founder of NAPS Peter Solej: “Friends, one of the missions of this event is that all of us drop our beliefs about the perfection of our opinions to be unerring and always right, and leave our imaginary wheelchairs of mental handicaps and live together in unity and mutual respect.“

The Legate of Jordan Prince with the NAPS Institute Thank you Letter.

First Slovak President elected in direct elections, H.E. Mr. Rudolf Schuster, received Honorary Membership of NAPS Institute.

The Archbishop and Metropolitan of Košice, Mons. Bernard Bober, gave his blessing in Latin at the end of the event.

Evangelic Bishop Slavomír Sabol blessed participants in Slovak.

Blessing of the Bishop Milan Chautur, Greek Catholic Eparch of Košice, in Old Slavonic language.

The Bishop of Reformed Christian Church, László Fazekas, gave his blessing in Hungarian.

The Orthodox Archbishop of Michalovce and Košice. The Most Reverend George, gave his blessing in Greek language.

Rabbi Károly Asztalos prays in Hebrew at the end of the event.

Ave Maria. Fantastic duet of the solo singer of the Opera of the State Theatre in Košice, Mr. Jaroslav Dvorský and Jordan singer Rose Alwerr accompanied by the chamber orchestra of Musica Cassovia.

The reception at the Hotel Zlatý dukát in Košice opened by the speech and toast of Head of Representation of European Commission to Slovakia, Mr. Dušan Chrenek.

At the Town Hall of the Mayor of the City of Košice.

The organizers of the event and the legate of the Jordan Prince were received in the historical City Hall by the Mayor, Mr. Richard Raši and Vice-Mayor Mrs. Renáta Lenártová.

President of the University of Prešov, His Magnificence prof. René Matlovič, awarded H.E. prof. Kamel S. Abu Jaber for his life work with the university medal.

The personal legate of Jordan Price with delegation received by Metropolitan of Slovak Greek Catholic Church, His Eminence Archbishop Ján Babjak, SJ.