By Tresa Van Heusen
The Maronite Servants travelled to New Haven, Connecticut to visit with
Abouna Elias Kesrouani, a visiting Professor of Ethnomusicology at Yale University. As an expert in Syriac Music, Abouna Elias gave a class to the Maronite Servants with an overview of the development of the Syriac language and music and how it became an integral aspect of our Maronite faith.
Abouna Elias, a Maronite Priest and Professor, earned his Ph.D in Musicology from the Sorbonne in 1989 with highly honorable mention, with a dissertation on the Syriac Scales. He also holds two M.A. degrees in Philosophy and Musicology and three B.A. degrees in Theology, Philosophy and Musicology from the Lebanese University and the University of the Holy Spirit respectively.
We spent a wonderful afternoon with Abouna Elias and his father Yousif, both in gaining better insight and knowledge into our Maronite culture and sharing in one another’s company.
