A walk on Musical Boulevard
By Vidushi Seneviratne
With the primary, junior, intermediate and senior
choirs coming together for the first time, Musaeus College plans
to entertain audiences with a vibrant choral concert next weekend.
Musical Boulevard, will have the choirs, which have participated
in a number of festivals of music and song, and won first place
at all-island level, sing and perform tuneful melodies and songs
from the past and the present.
Giving the opportunity for students to portray
their talents and skills, the concert will be a celebration of their
love for music. The show will be held on August 18 at 6.30 p.m.,
while the venue will be the Bishop’s College auditorium.
The concert is a mixture of musicals, pop and
jazz, and a little bit of drama thrown in to bring out the talent
and the character of the songs. Inspired by N. K. Pilapitiya, the
principal of Musaeus College, to put on this show, the choristers
are trained and directed by Subashini Talwatte. The creative choreography
is handled by Menik Neydorff, while the choir will be accompanied
by Zahara Vilcassim on keyboards and Mariam Wadood, on the piano.
According to Ms. Talwatte, the concert starts
with a love theme, and then breaks into various other sections.
The seniors and intermediates will take the stage in their theme
songs on love, which are to be sung with great passion and beautifully
rendered in well-modulated tones. Naduni Balasuriya and Irandi Kuruppu
with their interpretation of “Love Never Fails” and
“Love Is A Splendid Thing” promise to give the audience
something to remember. Isuri Munasinghe, an all-island winner, will
perform “Greatest Love Of All” with the rest of the
choir chipping in to make it a fitting end to the first session
of the programme.
Doing a few hits from The Sound Of Music, this
session will see the choir bring well-known classics to life. Naduni
Abeywardana, a soprano, will set the pace in the opening song “Sound
Of Music.” Dhanushka Dodangollegama and Heshara Ranasinghe,
both of whom are all-island winners, plan to give a very different
version of “Going On Sixteen,” while the leader of the
soprano section Piyumi Wijewickrama will give a performance of Mother
Abbess, which will surely transport the audience back to Rodgers
and Hammerstein’s The Sound Of Music.
The younger girls of the primary section will
add rhythm and character with their contributions from Snow White
and Bare Necessities. The junior choir will take the stage next
with Cinderella and Little Mermaid, both with a high sense of drama
in it. The highly choreographed pop and jazz session will give the
performance a new look, while the session ends with a few Sinhala
numbers thrown in.
The senior choir will then offer a medley from
My Fair Lady and Piyumi Wijewickrama, yet another all-island winner,
will render her voice for “Loverly” and “I Could
Have Danced All Night.” Yehani Weerasinghe, as the dashing
young Freddy will give a convincing performance of “On A Street
Where You Live.” The final of the performance is from Aladdin
with all the magic of the Arabian nights brought to life, as the
young prince and princess’ dance bring the curtain down with
“A Whole New World,” along with the rest of the choir
accompanying. Almost 50 items make up the schedule for the night.
Speaking to a few of the talented choristers,
the production seems to be a great experience for all of them. “Since
this is the first time all the choirs are involved in one big production,
the experience is wonderful,” says Thiromi Ranasinghe (17),
a member of the senior choir. “Our capabilities and range
have been identified, and very talented soloists and so on have
emerged.” The entire number of participants in the performance
is close to 200, and Piyara Mallawathanthri feels that the experience
has helped the choir bond as a whole.
“We have all given our fullest commitment
for the production, and though it has been a little difficult for
most of us to handle the production and studies, especially for
the seniors with examinations on the way, our teacher has been extremely
supportive, so the task has been made easier,” added Thiromi.
|