Asia Pacific Choir Games in Colombo in October
The Choir Games were announced at a media briefing last week
It will be an orchestra of friendly competition and choral celebration as Colombo hosts the 4th Asia Pacific Choir Games from October 21 to 28. Presented by the Colombo Cultural Hub Trust (CCHT), under the patronage of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and INTERKULTUR of Germany, it will be the first time an INTERKULTUR choir event will be held in South Asia.
The Choir Games were announced at a media briefing last week with Minister of Tourism John Amaratunga, Vice President at INTERKULTUR Stefan Bohlander and the expert team at Colombo Cultural Hub Trust which comprised Chairman, Mano Chanmugam, Director Operations, Neomal De Alwis and Director Programmes, Soundarie David Rodrigo present.
The Colombo Cultural Hub Trust (CCHT) was established with the mission of making Colombo the cultural centre of South Asia. The CCHT has already taken steps in making this vision a reality by hosting the Asian Pacific Choir Games in Sri Lanka. Most of the events will be open to the public free of charge, and only some ticketed at concessionary rates.
Some of the categories that these professional and amateur choirs will compete in are Gospel, Spiritual, Jazz, Pop, Folklore, Acappella to name a few.
INTERKULTUR, the organisation known for spearheading the World Choir Games every two years, has been organising events like this for over two decades. The World Choir Games will be held next in South Africa in 2018 and is inspired by the Olympics. Russia hosted the event last year. The Asia Pacific Games, a precursor for the World Choir Games is a choral equivalent like the Commonwealth Games or the SAARC Games which pave the way for the Olympics.
Local choirs such as “Soul Sounds”, “Revelations” , “The Old Joes Choir” and “Voice in Harmony” have represented Sri Lanka at the event in past years.
The South Asia Pacific Choir Games will be showcasing the island’s indigenous art and culture to participants from all over the world whilst also showing the cultural diversity of other countries.
Around 3000 participants are expected representing 30 professional and school choirs from ten countries including Croatia, Latvia and Thailand. CCHT Director of Programmes Soundarie David Rodrigo said “This event will be an opportunity for Sri Lanka to experience something new and special.”
Chairman of CCHT Mano Chanmugam noted that “almost 90% of these vocalists wouldn’t have the opportunity of travelling abroad” in view of the heavy expenditure of travel. Mr. Chanmugam acknowledged the support given by the trustees Lionel Fernando, Prof. Chandragupta Thenuwara, Prof. Sarath Amunugama and Prof. Prishantha Gunawardena in organising the event.
Minister John Amaratunga added that the scheduled events will be an ideal catalyst to stimulate interaction among and local and international artistes.
Stating “Preparations for the 4th Asia Pacific Choir Games are in full swing”, President of INTERKULTUR Stefan Bohlander added that what is important for INTERKULTUR is that all their events would be open to a diverse set of choirs.
What aims to be the highlight of the festival will take place on October 24, where 70 choirs from 10 nations comprising 3000 choristers will parade the streets, starting from Nelum Pokuna in a fun-filled carnival like atmosphere that will celebrate the uniqueness of each culture the choristers represent.
| The festival in a nutshell | |
| This October’s festival will feature three competitions, each of which will have 10 categories. Choirs from all over the Asia Pacific region, regardless of their present level of achievement, will have the opportunity to participate in the Open Competition. Choirs with international competitive experience will participate in the Asia Pacific Champions Competition and choirs that have competitive experience in international choral competitions, will compete against each other at the Grand Prix of Nations. In addition to competitive and non-competitive participation, choirs will have the opportunity in their free time to tour Sri Lanka and to perform in Friendship Concerts with other choirs in public venues within Colombo. These free public concerts will provide opportunities for each choir to share the musical traditions of their native land with other choirs and the Sri Lankan pubic. Further expert musicians will conduct workshops and masterclasses at local schools/ public forums to foster a love of culture and arts among students and the general public. The opening and closing ceremonies will be at Temple Trees, with the main competitions and concerts taking place at Nelum Pokuna and other side events being hosted in theatres in and around Colombo. For more details check out their event page on Facebook. |