Soulful sounds
View(s):The Seniors of the Methodist College Choir are in agreement from the start that their upcoming concert is a team effort. ‘Fouco Con Grazia’ – the title of their concert just “happened while we were brainstorming” is how Rozanne De Zoysa member of the choir for 5 years explains it.
Nabeela Iqbal, another senior recalls the girls felt that the title reflects everything they stand for as a choir- vocal versatility and constantly pushing themselves to do better which they hope would make for a delightful evening.
The winning combination of hard work and versatility have worked for the choir who under the direction of Sanjeev Jayaratnam won a Gold Diploma and a Silver Medal at the International Hoi An Choir Competition in Vietnam back in 2011 and again in 2012 when they won a Platinum award in the Xinghai International Choir.
Teacher in charge, Nilani Tissa Aratchy says the girls have worked tirelessly for this production and have made a lot of sacrifices. Interestingly she shares that the choir doesn’t have a leader. “We prefer to delegate tasks and go about it collectively” she smiles, “The seniors do all the work together.”
With their past successes behind them the girls are very aware that they have quite a lot to defend. Chorister Shannon Seneviratne shares “we believe that we are only as good as our last performance,” which is why they have been at work on this production since April. Bringing their A game and delivering a superlative performance has grown to be part of the choir’s culture and while they seem to be a little jittery about “dancing on heels” and crossing their fingers.
Choir to these girls has always been more than an extra curricular activity. The close-knit clan, spend about 5 hours together 3-4 times a week and are what they like to call “a choir family.” Putting choir over other commitments comes naturally as Salome Vincent smiles “It’s our passion to sing so we don’t even mind the long practices.” Quickly adding that perhaps the most enjoyable part of the practices is the good company and the food. Dewni Aluthwatte feels parents by now “are pretty much used to us picking choir practices over classes- it’s been this way for 5 years.”
Always a balancing act, the ladies are by now accustomed to treading on thin ice with well meaning parents and teachers but feel that working with Sanjeev Jayaratnam for a director has made it all the more easier. Rozanne shares “he gives good advice not only in terms of what we do onstage,” but also how to balance choir commitments with everything else. Appreciating this indispensable guidance the choir feels they are fully equipped to take the stage yet another time and leave the audience spellbound.
Everything from African tunes to the more familiar local melodies even gospel and some contemporary numbers are a part of the line-up. Not wanting to give too much away the choristers say the audience is in for a spectacular evening of fire with a graceful twist.
The Methodist College Choir under the direction of Sanjeev Jayaratnam will present Fouco Con Grazia on June 10 and 11 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre. Accompanied by Dharshi Edwards on Piano, Neranjan de Silva on the organ and Christopher Prins on the drums, the Choir will also share the stage with the Old Girl’s Choir- Metho Cantanti.
Tickets priced at Rs. 1000, 750 and 500 for reserved seats (downstairs) and Rs.300 for unreserved seats (upstairs) are available at the School Office.