The Peradeniya Singers will present CONCERTAID IX – Virga Jesse Floruit on December 15 at 7 p.m at St. Paul’s Church, Kynsey Rd, Colombo 8 and on December 19 at 6.30 p.m. at Girls’High School in Kandy. On the programme are works by Handel, Saint-Saens, John Rutter, Bruckner, Andrea Klause, Ken Burton and many others. All proceeds will go to the disabled soldiers.
The group has been committed to the art of choral singing for 56 years, giving two concerts a year, besides other performances on various special occasions.
The group began life as The University Singers founded by Robin Mayhead at the University of Ceylon at Peradeniya in 1953. Mayhead came to the university’s Department of English from Downing College, Cambridge, where he had directed a choral group. He was devoted to
acapella performance.
The original group faded out after his departure. The present director Bridget Halpé, returning from studying music at the University of Bristol, took over the choir and drawing on her training and experience in Bristol’s Department of Music and as a member of the University of Bristol Choir, the select Thirty-two Choir and the Paragon Singers, she revived the University Singers.
Now known as The Peradeniya Singers, the group meets regularly and presents several programmes mainly for charities. The choir includes several non-university singers, including working people and expatriates. |
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