Les Zimmis Grands

Les Zimmis Grands (2012-2014) was a small choir, singing songs of resistance, peace and revolution in different languages (French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Persian, Swahili, Kinyarwandan). Originally founded by Caroline Künzle as one of the Montreal Life Stories end-of-project activities, it could not have been born without this important oral history project’s support, nor without choir director Kathy Kennedy’s help. The choir’s name, Les Zimmi Grands was a playful rendering of the French word “immigrants” and we proudly sang at community events around town organized by the Immigrant Worker’s Centre, the Montreal Rwandan community and UN World Refugee Day, among others. Members, at various points during the choir’s two-year lifespan included: Luis Aguilar, Rania Arabi, Shahrzad Arshadi, Arash Atashi, Mateusz Banski, Kevin Batdorj (guitarist), Lilia Bitar, Nancy Castonguay, Julia De Montigny, Albert Dormand, Agnes d’Ornano, Stefan Eguizabal, Bita Eslami, Lise Gantheret, Sandra Gasana, Oula Hajjar, Christina Howison, Lawrence Joseph (guitarist), Caroline Künzle, Renato Neyra (cajon), Vincent Nsengiyumva (guest musician), Marcus Peterson, Masoud Raouf, Jean-Bart Téber, Chantria Tram, Parham Yazdy.