TASHKENT (UCAN) -- The only Catholic church in Tashkent, known for hosting religious and secular concerts by visiting performers, now has its own choir.

A dozen young people, ranging in age from 17 to 27, are the initial members of the Sacred Heart Church choir.

Previously the parish convened a choir only for major Church feasts, but now Father Andrzej Brzezinski, the parish priest, wants a permanent choir to sing regularly at Sunday Mass.

"The main goal of creating the parish choir was to make the liturgy more beautiful and dynamic," the Conventual Franciscan priest explained to UCA News. However, he also sees it as a way for parish youth to keep "active."

The choristers, only about half of them parishioners, made their debut singing Acathistus, the traditional Russian Orthodox chant in honor of Mother Mary, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8.

They followed this with a Christmas Eve midnight Mass performance of Christmas carols in Russian, Polish, English and German.

"It was a good opportunity to present Catholic Christmas traditions to people coming for the first time to a Catholic church, usually on Christmas, when the cathedral is full and the parishioners are a minority among the people present," Father Brzezinski commented.

The Franciscan priest said Inna Kamaryan, 32, a parishioner and mother of two children, conducts and teaches the choir. She graduated from music school and regularly sings in the public concerts at Sacred Heart, which has made the church well known among classical music lovers in the city.

Kamaryan is "a professional" and a good choir leader, Father Brzezinski said, adding that people can hear the results of her effort.

Most choir members don't have formal music education, so Kamaryan holds rehearsals twice a week.

The half of the choir members who are not parishioners have had little or nothing to do with the Catholic Church before. One of them is Guzal Kolanovaa, a university student of Oriental Studies. She said she first came to the church two years ago for a concert of organ and vocal music, which she enjoyed.

"Our choir head sang Ave Maria, and I found her after the concert and asked where I could study vocal music," Kolanovaa recalled.

Kamaryan became Kolanovaa's singing tutor, even if an opportunity to sing at the church would not occur for a while.

"A few months ago Inna called and invited me to sing in the parish choir, which she was organizing at that time," Kolanovaa continued. She said singing in the choir is special, because the church is a "very beautiful and unusual place."

Timur Usmanov, a Muslim, finds it "very interesting" to sing in the choir. "When I was a schoolboy, I sang in the choir at our school, and it was very interesting to sing together with other people," Usmanov told UCA News, standing in the church.

"Singing at the church is something amazing, because it is a place where people talk to God, and the atmosphere is extraordinary here," he added.

Dina Chadskih, a parishioner, enjoyed the carols the choir performed for the Christmas Eve liturgy.

"It really helped people remember and experience one more time the main event of humanity, Christmas. And it is good the choir has started to perform not only on feast days but during regular Masses too," she told UCA News.

Meanwhile, the singers also are making special preparations for Easter.

Franciscan Father Krzysztof Kukulka, superior of the sui juris (self-governing) mission of Uzbekistan until 2005, opened the church's doors to concerts and other public events following its dedication in 2000.

Father Kukulka organized organ recitals and performances of choral and chamber music so people would come to the church and become familiar with Catholics' presence in this city of more than 1 million people. Among guest performers he invited organists from Bulgaria and France. The parish continues this musical tradition and holds at least one concert a month.

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