They told me before they left, that they would bring back the gold. But that turns out to have been a slight miscalculation – they've brought back three. Soul Sounds has had a very busy year. The wins at the 5th World Choir Games at Graz, Austria follow on the heels of several concerts – both in Sri Lanka and abroad – that saw the choir garner much acclaim. And this is not their first win – in the last games in China, Soul Sounds was recognized with two silver medals…and what that tells us is they're just getting better. If you ever had any doubts that Soul Sounds is at the top of their game, you can officially lay them to rest now. Here are some excerpts from a quick interview with Soundarie David, Music Director of this all-female choir.
Mirror Magazine: Soul Sounds has had a busy four years...
Soundarie: We have achieved a lot in a tiny span of 4 years. An International Record, an international tour of Australia, two concerts in Delhi, a concert in Kuwait, a competition in China and finally Austria... So in that sense we are truly musical ambassadors. It has not been easy because for all these trips we have had to look for funders ourselves...but it is the determination, drive and most importantly passion for music that keeps us going...
MM: I hear you're planning a victory concert. Do give us all the specifics.
S: The concert is titled Soul Sounds in Concert – Celebrating 3 Golds and will be held at the Lionel Wendt on August 20
(Wednesday) starting at 7.30pm. Soul Sounds would like to give the funds to charity this time, and the proceeds will be in aid of the Millenium Institute for Children with Special Needs.
MM: Can we look forward to hearing some of the songs you performed in Graz?
S: Yes, we will be featuring songs sung for the competition. A lot of it will be new - our own parents did not get a sample of the repertoire we were to sing in Graz. For instance from our gospel repertoire we will be singing "Total Praise" and "I'll trust you" by Richard Smallwood – a renowned composer for gospel music. From the popular music section, we'll be singing a medley from the 60's era, also from the movie Streets of Fire, "Tonight is what it means to be young." In the folklore category, we will be performing a medley of Sri Lankan folklore dressed in traditional attire and choreographed accordingly. We intend to add a few other new numbers to cater to the varied tastes of the audience.
MM: So tell us a little about the World Choir Games themselves. What was the competition like?
S: The competition itself, is in many ways modelled after the Olympic sporting event, in that it has different categories featuring different genres of singing. There were around 440 choirs or more participating, but not all of them enter the same category. I've always found the open categories most challenging – because anything goes in terms of the number of voices used, the accompaniment and selection of pieces. These categories also draw the most number of participants.
I have always wanted a challenge, and strongly believe that a choir's strength is based on the competition it faces, hence, we entered for 3 open categories, in the gospel & Spiritual, Popular Music, and Folklore categories. Each open category had more than 30 participants in the final round itself, so Soul Sounds were ready for some very stiff competition…and the girls and I are proud that we achieved what we set out to achieve, as well as maintain the 'gold status' so to speak in all three categories.
MM: What do you think set Soul Sounds apart from all these other great international choirs?
S: In the open categories that we competed in, without any doubt there were choirs that were better than us in many ways. For us, this was a learning experience. Our girls stood out mainly for their depth, and soul portrayed in their singing… Many were amazed that coming from a country like Sri Lanka, which is hardly known for singing of this nature, we were able to produce amazing sounds, coupled with musicianship. All in all, not just at the competition, but wherever the girls went in Austria, be it at the dining hall, in the tram, or even at the beautiful cathedrals in Vienna, the girls sang, and when they sang they managed to draw the attention of all those nearby, and bring smiles to their faces. They were able to speak the language of music which cuts through so many barriers, they were truly musical ambassadors of the country.
MM: What did the wins mean to you personally?
S: Having won two silvers two years ago at the World Choir Games, my aim was to win 3 Golds at this competition, hence achieving what I wanted was rewarding. That being said, more rewarding to me was seeing the choir improve over the years, seeing them truly understand what gospel music is all about, seeing them overcome the many obstacles that were set before them this last year, has made me proud of these very talented girls.
Tickets for Soul Sounds – Celebrating 3 Golds are available at the Wendt, priced at Rs 1500/-, 1000/-, 750/-, 500/- and 350/-.
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