Choir formed from the ashes of the Notre-Dame cathedral helps mark reopening 

The members of Notre-Dame Compagnons Choir came together to do more than sing — the crew helped rebuild Paris' fire-devastated cathedral.

PARIS — Most have on jeans, some wear rough work boots, and one sings with a white construction helmet tucked under his arm. Gathered in the church hall before the altar, their song begins low and soft, surges and then sweeps through the Gothic-style church and up to its soaring stone ceiling.

The 80-strong choir has come together to do more than sing, though — the crew of architects, stonemasons, archaeologists, art historians, art conservators and others have helped rebuild Paris’ Notre-Dame cathedral after a fire ripped through the iconic French Gothic masterpiece nearly five years ago.

With hundreds of people working to rebuild a structure so intimately tied to French art, history and culture, it felt natural to start a choir, said Stephanie Duchêne, a conservation scientist and chemical engineer who helped form the Notre-Dame Compagnons Choir, or Notre Dame Companions, nearly two years ago.

Much like the building and rebuilding of a cathedral, a small army of individuals needs to work in unison to create extraordinary music.

“Everyone has to do his part to make the music sound good,” said Duchêne, the chief archaeologist and conservation scientist for the Laboratory of Research for Historical Monuments.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/europe/notre-dame-cathedral-choir-fire-reopening-paris-rcna179757

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