Taking its name from the “Valley of the Son of Hinnom” (“Gehenna”) in Jerusalem, and alluding to the disturbing history of the site – where ancient Canaanites are known to have conducted human sacrifice – The Great Gehenna Choir’s original repertoire consists of expressive musical rites.
The choir, established by Noam Enbar in 2015, is comprised of singers of different backgrounds. Its repertoire explores both highly elaborated compositions and intuitive easy-to-learn polyphonic music, merging different and sometimes contrasting performative sensitivities.
By its very structure, this unique group of people embodies an inclusive gesture towards the audience. Rather than casting them as onlookers, the new, occasionally absurd rituals performed by the choir, invite audiences to take part in original, non-institutional, often radical articulations of “spirituality” and its intersections with social and political issues.