Sunday Times 2
“Celebration with Song”: Professional and amateur singers gather for a wonderful evening
“Celebration with Song” featuring the Congregation Choir with Neranjan de Silva, the De Lanerolle Brothers, Adele Beling, Eshantha de Andrado and Melanie Bibile will take place at the Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour on Tuesday, October 27 from 7.30 p.m. onwards.
The first of two rehearsals for the event held last Sunday saw encouraging participation. An interesting collection of professional and amateur singers, both young and not-so-young came together for two hours of fun learning and music-making on the evening, and the glory of the sounds that filled the church was an awe-inspiring foretaste of a wonderful evening to come.
“I was just speechless,” says well known singer Eshantha de Andrado of the quality of the rehearsal. “Neranjan[de Silva] is a very accommodating and appreciating person, and this is why so many people showed up despite the rain.” De Andrado was among the singers at the event which inspired “Celebration with Song”. At the memorial service for de Silva’s father in July an impromptu choir of over 70 people left the congregation awestruck at the quality of the music. Going by this experience and what de Andrado heard at the rehearsal last Sunday, he expects that “people will be awestruck on the day” and that “it will be one of the most heart-warming musical experiences”.
Another rehearsal for the event is scheduled to take place 6 p.m.- 8 p.m. on Monday, October 26 at the Cathedral, and all who are interested are invited to join. True to his style, main man behind the programme, Neranjan De Silva has announced that the rehearsals will again be very informal – participants can walk in and walk out at any time. The only commitment you have to make is Rs.500 towards the programme containing the score for songs which will be sung by the Congregation Choir.
“Everyone is a little puzzled about what the congregation choir is,” says Ishan de Lanerolle, Director of the Choir at the Cathedral. “What we’re doing is basically inviting everyone to be part of this great thing.” Prior commitments, inhibition and lot of other factors prevent many people who are interested in choral singing from taking part in big events, he says. What the programme will do is “revolutionize the whole idea of an evening of music” in his opinion. “Usually you go out and hear the music and feel inspired, but here, you are the inspiration.”
“I enjoyed singing for a change,” enthuses KuveniWijeratne, a member of the Congregation Choir who is used to being on the training side of the process at the Cinnamon Gardens Baptist Church. The beauty of the programme is that it comprises timeless favourites and as Wijeratne points out, the rehearsal was a quick and refreshing process, where the familiarity of the music allowed the singers to be very productive in a short span of time.
Collect your programmes early at Commons, Park Street Mews, or the Methodist Church Headquarters in Kollupitiya and be there at the rehearsal on Monday, 26 October, 6 p.m.-8 p.m. to become a part of it all. Call Neranjan on 777368614 for more information.