The joy of seasonal favourites
The Old Joes choir and left, Stephanie Siriwardhana
It’s the time of year for seasonal joy and magical Christmas music. On December 14, the enthusiastic audience at the Nelum Pokuna, Colombo revelled in an array of all-time favourite Christmas carols.
The ninth edition of ‘Christmas – A Call To Share: Joy To The World 2018’ organised and jointly presented by the Archdiocese of Colombo and the St. Joseph Vaz Trust, featured an array of vocalists and choral groups singing those much-loved Christmas songs.
Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo and Chairman, St.Joseph Vaz Trust delivered his Christmas message and blessings to the audience stating, “Christmas speaks about God who became man. It celebrates God’s great love for us in the process of self-emptying. The joy of Christmas thus, is in giving than in taking, in loving than in hating, in sharing than in holding, in pardoning than in taking revenge.”
The Soul Sounds sang ‘Silent Night’ and ‘It came upon a midnight clear’ – the excellent acapella renditions arranged by Choral Director, Soundarie David Rodrigo.
Damian Wickramatillake presented an entertaining solo performance with a range of Christmas classics including the most loved ‘The First Nowell’ and ‘O Holy Night,’ in which the audience sang along for the chorus.
Sri Lanka Pueri Cantores Choir trained by Choral Director Francis D’Almeida gave beautiful performances of ‘Baba Yetu’ and ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ followed by ‘Little Drummer Boy,’ ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ and ‘Rocking around the Christmas tree’ to toe-tapping beats sung by Rajitha Rupasinghe.
Young and talented Eksath de Alwis gave us ‘Silver Bells’ and ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’ while The Old Joes’ Choir presented their outstanding choral talents in voicing ‘That’s Christmas to me’ and ‘Saviour’s Day.’
Former beauty queen Stephanie Siriwardhana thrilled the audience with ‘Ave Maria’ in Latin and ‘The Lord’s Prayer’. ‘Jesu Bilindu Ipaduneya,’ the Sinhala Christmas carol and ‘Gesu Bambino’ were presented by the Archdiocesan Choir of Colombo.
Coming in for the grand finale Voice Print sang ‘Hark the Herald,’ ‘A Ray of Hope’ and ‘Shake up Christmas’ giving it their own Voice Print twist. The concert was compered by Clifford Richards.