From applause in the parks of Riga to cheers on stage
The Old Joes Choir, made up of former choristers from St. Joseph’s College, Colombo returned triumphant on Monday after winning on the international stage at the 8th World Choir Games in Riga, Latvia.
The only South Asian choir to participate in the WCG, they competed in two categories namely the Barbershop Choirs and the Musica Sacra (Sacred Music) with accompaniment. In the Barbershop category, the Choir won a Gold medal and was crowned as World Champions having notched up 91 points. They also won a silver medal in the Sacred Music category.
The Old Joes: Making waves in Riga, Latvia
Landing in Riga, Latvia on July 7, they made good use of the two practice days, singing by the roadside, in parks and even on the plane, which meant that by the start of the competition on the 9th, they were already well known.
“People started to call us the St. Joseph’s Choir. There are parks all over the Riga city so we would go to a park, get into formation and start practising and before long there would be a crowd gathered to cheer. They knew Sri Lanka because of our tea. Whenever we said we are Sri Lankan they would gesture as if carrying a cup and saucer and say ‘Ceylon Tea!’ When we started to walk on stage to perform we got a loud cheer. They loved the fact that we were wearing sarong and people, especially girls, would come up to us and ask, “where can we get skirts like this?” It was quite funny,” says project chairperson Rehan Almeida.
The thrill of representing their country came when at the opening ceremony the Sri Lankan flag was brought in.
The first performance had been the Sacred Music category held at the St. Peter’s Church, one of the oldest medieval churches in Riga. “The acoustics of the ancient building was amazing. The stage for the choirs was put up where the altar normally would be, and the venue couldn’t have been more appropriate and comfortable. The feeling we got when singing was reciprocated by the audience and when we saw the faces of the judges and audience we knew we did a good job,” says one of the Choral Directors Geethika Cooray. The OJC was a very small choir compared to the South African mixed choir (winners in the category for nine consecutive years) which emerged champions -they had 104 voices. OJC is happy with the silver they won, as they competed against European countries where sacred music originated.
The next day came the Barbershop music category and they had felt nervous. “Our choir assistant was a Latvian girl named Liva Zvirgzdina and with her help, on the morning of the second competition we went to perform at the orphanage where her mother works. We were touched when at the end of the performance, the children wished us luck with roses,” said chorister Reihan Stephen.
“When we went on stage in our black and white barbershop costumes the crowd gave us a loud cheer. By the time the second song rolled in, we had the full attention of the crowd and the judges. One of the judges even took a photograph of us performing and at the end we got a standing ovation which is very rare at WCG. We knew we had nailed it,” says Nicole Liyanage, one of the Music Directors.
Of the seven judges, two gave them full marks.
Some 27,000 participants from 74 countries and over 465 choirs from around the world took part in this year’s WCG. The competition has numerous categories and each has more than one bronze, silver and gold medalist due to the fact that any choir which secures marks above the set benchmark is eligible for the medals. Choirs receiving more than 40 marks get bronze medals, more than 60 earns them silver and more than 80 gets gold while the highest scorer receives the title of champion in the given segment.
“Our goal has never been to be the ‘best choir’ in Sri Lanka. We started as a fellowship of just meeting and singing which we are doing still. This is why this win means a lot because we never wanted to compete. We are extremely grateful to Revelations, Soul Sounds and Voiceprint who supported us by sharing their WCG experiences with us and a big thank you also goes out to the De Lanerolle brothers who trained us,” Geethika said.
The choir is grateful to Jerome L de Silva, Anushka Manamperi and Dinesha Senaratne who helped with choreography, Gihan and Rohan Jayathilaka with lights and others who helped, namely Rector of St. Joseph’s College, Fr. Travis Gabriel and the administrative staff, Asitha Tennakoon, Peshali Yapa, Mary Anne David, Francis de Almeida, Suren de S. Wijeratne, Gregory Rose and Johann Peiris, as well as parents, past choristers and family members who supported them. “We are mostly grateful to God without whose intervention we would never have come so far,” Rehan said.