Grand Christmas Concert at the Jeanne d'Arch Church

Cultural Traditions and folklore

The Choeur Éphata will give a great participative Christmas concert on Saturday 17 December at 8.30pm in the church of Sainte Jeanne d'Arc in Versailles.

This is the second year, same date, same place, that the choir has taken up the challenge of bringing together 100 people to form a single ensemble. Last year it was met: 80 singers, 20 instrumentalists and 700 listeners! Strings vibrated, trumpets sounded, voices rose, faces lit up and harmony was created. At that moment, the traditional Christmas carols the church throughout the evening and the crowd took up some of these emblematic refrains under the direction of Rogatien Despaigne, our choirmaster. At the end of the evening, mulled wine and brioches awaited the enthusiastic public to prolong the evening with convivial discussions.
This year, 48 people were able to register in the last few weeks to take part in this great adventure. The conditions were simple: to work assiduously on their scores at home and to be present at the three rehearsal afternoons preceding the concert. The objective remains unchanged: to bring together all generations and all levels to share the joy of the approaching nativity and the taste for sacred music. On that day, the singers of the Ephata Choir will give the first part of the concert, accompanied by 20 instrumentalists, then they will be joined by the participatory choir to sing traditional Christmas carols together. As last year, the crowd will sing the chorus of some of the songs, with the help of the lyrics broadcast on a large screen.
We invite you to this great Christmas concert!