Claiming to be decades apart but young at heart, a meeting with three 'Die hard Past Bridgeteen Choristers or PBC's – Amita, Sonali and Chamintha, proved that little has changed since their schoolgirl days.
Featured as Guest Performers in numerous concerts and events, the Past Bridgeteens have made a name for themselves as a fun loving bunch of singers who have wowed their audiences for roughly six years. "And we now have a name!" exclaims Amita- the choir leader. The PBC's, at the recently concluded Saints Renaissance 2, introduced themselves as Contempo – and eagerly anticipate more success as a choir group in the near future.
Why Contempo? "Well, we love putting a contemporary twist into our music," explains Amita, "its what we do best!"
The members of Contempo all agree that in the beginning, establishing themselves had proved to be something of a challenge. "In fact," they say, "it is still a challenge to bring a large group together and right now the group consists of around 16 members."
Undeterred, the choir dedicates itself to broadening its already diverse repertoire and giving off a brilliant performance every time. Performing a very wide repertoire – classical to blues, acapella, gospel and contemporary, they pride themselves on their versatility.
"We are a crazy bunch really," smiles Amita. Adds Sonali, "anyone would agree to that, had they witnessed the goofing around taking place in our dressing room a few minutes before our last performance!" Work and family commitments, while important, are all forgotten, and it would seem that they all become schoolgirls again when they are together. "Apart from the music, that's the other factor that continues to keep us together – the constant bonding," said Chamintha.
At their debut performance as Contempo, the PBC's, backed by Eshantha Peiris, performed "Like a Prayer," "Take Me to the Water," "Amazing Grace," "The Shoop Shoop Song," "Earth Angel" and the "Musaladi Vannama." "Amazing Grace" – performed with a soulful African American vibe – had been a performance which stood out bringing in lots of enthusiastic applause from the audience. "The support we had from Eshantha was absolutely amazing," recalls Chamintha. "He brought in a level of professionalism into our performance, definitely kicked it up more than a few notches." Amita laughs, "we are also grateful to him for all the tolerance!"
Contempo also thanks The Saints for all the confidence vested in them. "They were always very supportive of us," they recall, "Even in the beginning, when we had little experience and exposure, they were always keen that we perform with them and we in turn had many good times working with them." The vibrant outfits worn at the show, were designed by Past Bridgeteen Darshi Keerthisena of Buddhi Batiks.
Plans for the future are not certain as of now, but the PBC's hope to be able to produce a show of their own in addition to singing at other events like they do now.
They do not look for money or fame, but just the chance to sing and sing well, with a lot of bonding and laughter along the way. Past Bridgeteens young and old are all encouraged to join, and anyone interested should contact contempo.choir@gmail.com for details.
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