The spotlight will shine bright on the intermediate choirs this June at the Wendt, when they come together to encapsulate audiences with an evening of unbridled musical entertainment they won't soon forget. Featuring the Intermediate choirs of Bishop's College, Ladies' College, Methodist College, St. Peter's College and St. Thomas' Preparatory  School, “Choirs in Harmony” will include a guest performance by the De Lanerolle Brothers, with Neranjan de Silva at the keyboard.

The evening will include both sacred and popular music with performances of multilingual hits such as "Chinna Chinna Aasai" and "Mango, Kalu Nande" in the pipes.

Daily Mirror Life spoke to some of the participants who shared their thoughts on the experience.

St. Peter's College

"It's a good idea to have the choirs from schools such as Bishop's College, Methodist College, Ladies' College, St. Thomas's Prep and St. Peter's College come together for an evening of choral music. The experience is heart warming and it is a good thing to have been associated with such a venture."

Bishop's College and Ladies' College

"It's great that the intermediate choirs are being showcased as normally it's the senior choirs... This kind of collaboration will encourage future performances, will teach life lessons due to the collaboration of many schools."

Methodist College

11 year olds: “We like being in the choir because of the song selection and it has been fun doing the dances as well.”
12 year olds: “We’ve enjoyed learning new songs and it has given us an opportunity to showcase our talents.”
13 year olds: “Meeting and making new friends and learning new songs has been fun and a rewarding experience. It’s rarely that intermediate choirs  perform. So such shows will give us more confidence.”

Rohan de Lanerolle

“It's great to be involved with children who will take music to the next generations to come. As always we enjoy working with them and learning with them. We will be doing one item with the backing of these children - I think around 250 voices - and we are looking forward to the collaboration. It's also important to know that after quite some time we are seeing the best acoustic hall in the country being used as it was meant to be UN-AMPLIFIED. The Lionel Wendt was built for such performances. We think this is a step in the right direction. Ishan and I are not against amplification but we must know when to use it and when not to. Especially children must learn the art of projection. And this is a step in the right direction.”

Catch "Choirs in Harmony" at the Lionel Wendt Theatre on June 25 (Wednesday) at 7pm. Proceeds in aid of the Organ Fund of the Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour. Tickets are priced at Rs. 1000/- Rs. 750/- and Balcony Rs. 250/- and can be purchased at the Lionel Wendt.

By Rihaab Mowlana