The process is still being kept under wraps, to maintain the element of surprise, as are the names of most of the artists who will be performing. One thing is certain: the ceremony marking the tenth anniversary of the Paris attacks on November 13, 2015, this Thursday evening, promises to be full of emotion. Broadcast from 6pm. on France 2 and TF 1, and on the giant screen at Place de la République (11), it will be 1 hour 45 minutes long. Preferred location? The memory park, Place Saint-Gervais (4), directly behind the town hall, was inaugurated on this occasion.
Approximately 1,500 guests are expected to attend, including survivors, victims’ families, elected officials, judges, as well as police officers and emergency service members who were on the front lines on the night of November 13, 2015, which left 132 people dead and hundreds more injured. From 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., the venue will remain open so guests in attendance can gather.
Thiery Reboul, chosen as artistic director, decided to keep an eye on the axis during the annual memorial service: one song for the dead and one for the living. The people who organize the Paris 2024 Olympics ceremony are surrounded by Thomas Dechandon for lighting, Blanca Li for choreography, Lola Breig and Étienne Guiol for scenography, Mossi Traoré for styling. Another name now known to Parisians is Victor Le Masne, the writer of the Olympic song, “Parade”, who will handle the musical direction.
Several songs were performed by Choir 13
The composer composed “Requiem of Lights” especially for this event. It will be performed by the Radio France choir, 66 singers deployed on the steps of the Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais church and the Republican Guard orchestra. Several speeches are planned: those of the President of the Republic, the mayor of Paris, as well as the victims’ associations Life for Paris and 13onze15 Fraternity and Liberty, which participated in the creation of the ceremony.
Several songs will be performed by Chœur du 13, a choir created especially for this commemoration that brings together around forty people from two associations of victims and victims’ relatives. Starting this Wednesday evening, the city hall, the Eiffel Tower and the statue on the Place de la République will be illuminated in the colors of the French flag. The elm tree, which is located in the middle of the remembrance garden and symbolizes justice, will be the center of the performance via video projection equipment. At its foot a modern organ will be installed to accompany some of the ceremonial paintings.
