Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Music for your ears
By Ishani Ranasinghe
Over the past few years Ruwani Seimon has directed numerous concerts. Most of us would have either attended one of them or at least heard about them. Having attended a few of them myself, to simply put what they were like… I would think amazing is an appropriate word.

Musically Yours presented by the choristers of St. Bridget’s College and directed by Ruwani Seimon promises to be yet another concert of that nature. Starting a choir tradition back in 2001 of having a concert every other year, the choristers are all energised and ready to bring you an evening filled with music.

One-and-a-half months of training a seventy-four member young, energetic and enthusiastic group of people is definitely no easy task. Last week I spoke to Ruwani to find out what it has been like and also to get some insight in to the show.

“This time around everything is brand new for me and the children,” she says starting off the conversation adding that what they are hoping to bring to the audience is going to be truly amazing.

Speaking about the music and the line-up of the concert, she explains that she has gone with her usual formula of things, meaning medleys, groups and solos, “This has worked for me so I am sticking to it. It’s only the music that is going to be new to me.”

With regard to the performance, what the youngsters are getting ready to bring to you is a line-up that is diverse, memorable and definitely catchy. Starting off with a medley of African American spirituals, they are also doing a medley of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s slow numbers, says Ruwani.

The surprise element of the evening will be the medley from Bombay Dreams. “I decided that hereafter I will always try to do something ethnic at my concerts,” she says, explaining her choice to do a medley from this particular musical, which was not something we are used to seeing from choristers.

Explaining a bit more about this, she says that choirs originated from the West, and therefore the music is written in English, “I want to take songs that are not written for that purpose, change it and do it in choir form.”

“We are even going to be singing baila unaccompanied,” she says adding that the drum noises and other sound effects will be made from the voices. For this segment of the concert, she says she won’t be using the whole choir; instead she has selected small groups of choristers.

Different and unique it’s going to be… training them has been hard, but after all these years she is used to it… I guess. I had to ask. “We have been working for a very short time, but thankfully we got that one week of school holidays we got where we killed ourselves,” she says.

Having worked with them for the past nine years she admits that things have become much easier, they are easy to teach and pick up things very easily.
Another concert that’s worth attending? I certainly think so… The choristers of St. Bridget’s Con-vent will present Musically Yours on October 22 and 23 at the Lionel Wendt.

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