A lot of people find it difficult to believe just how good Soul Sounds is – after all they started out as a school choir, and they've only been around a little over four years. But they've managed to accomplish a tremendous amount in that time – not least of which are their sparkling new gold medals courtesy the panel of judges at the 5th World Choir Games in Graz, Austria.
The choir won in all of the three open categories they participated in, which translates into a gold each in Gospel and Spiritual, Popular Music, and Folklore categories. Each category boasted more than 30 participating choirs, and the competition was tough to say the least. Fortunately, we're going to be given a taste of that award winning magic at their concert this month.
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The concert is titled Soul Sounds in Concert – Celebrating 3 Golds and will be at the Lionel Wendt this August 20.
Speaking with the The Sunday Times last week, Soundarie David, Music Director for the choir, said that a lot of the repertoire would be new to local audiences. Describing the programme for the evening, she said, "from our gospel repertoire we will be singing, 'Total Praise' and 'I'll trust you' by Richard Smallwood – a renowned composer for gospel music. From the popular music section, we'll be singing a medley from the 60's era, also from the movie Streets of Fire, 'Tonight is what it means to be young.' In the folklore category, we will be performing a medley of Sri Lankan folklore dressed in traditional attire and choreographed accordingly. We intend to add a few other new numbers to cater to the varied tastes of the audience."
As always, the choir will be backed by Neranjan de Silva on Keyboards, Christopher Prins on drums and Soundarie David on piano. The group's Artistic Director is Jerome L. de Silva.
Previous concerts have been dedicated to raising the funds that have allowed the choir to travel as extensively as it has. This time around, "Soul Sounds would like to give funds to charity, and the proceeds will be in aid of the Millenium Institute for Children with Special Needs," explained Soundarie.
Catch Soul Sounds in Concert – Celebrating 3 golds' on August 20, starting at 7.30pm. Tickets are available at the Lionel Wendt, and are priced at Rs. 1500, 1000, 750, 500 and 350. |