As the Choir completes 144 years, being the oldest traditional student organization at Trinity College Kandy continuing a choral tradition of excellence from its inception, 2016 marks yet another sensational year for the highly acclaimed Choir. This year, a record number of 45 musical pieces, several of them with 8 part harmonies, have been publicly performed by the Choir in addition to its repertoire of hymns at regular Services and School Events.
The Year 2016 was a challenging year for the Choir of Trinity College Kandy. The fifty-seven voices of the Choir was in performance throughout the year starting off with the installation ceremony of the new Principal, Mr. Andrew Fowler-Watt and concluding the year with a successful Christmas Eve Service.
Trinity – Thomian Weekend
Combined service with the St. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia up in Kandy was held in February 21st 2016. ‘Look at the World’ by John Rutter was performed as a special anthem by both choirs at this traditional event.
The Cross and Triumph of Christ
Being one of the Main Events of the Choir calendar, ‘The Cross and Triumph of Christ’, a Lenten Meditation and Easter Reflection in Music, Lessons and Prayers was held during the 1st Term. The congregation was inspired by the Choir’s choice of ‘Ich will hier bei dir stehen’ by Bach, ‘How deep the father’s love for us’ by Stuert Townend, ‘Fling wide the gates’ by John Stainer, ‘Behold the lamb of God’ by Handel, ‘Ave verum, corpus’ by Mozart, ‘This joyful Eastertide’ by Charles Wood and ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ by Handel which the Principal, Mr. Andrew Fowler-Watt was invited to conduct. The Choir concluded the Term with Easter Sunday.
Picture credit: Trinity College Media Unit
Abendlied an Evening of Choral Music
The Second Term commenced with practices for ‘Abendlied’, An Evening of Choral Music in collaboration with the choir of St. Joseph’s College Colombo. Four compositions were sung by the Choir for this event, ‘Dem Bones’, ‘Prayer for Peace’, ‘Abendlied’ by Josef Rheinberger and ‘The Lord of dance’ on it s own, and ‘Ave verum, corpus’, Panis Angelicus’, ‘Jesu, joy of man’s desiring’ and ‘Gloria Te’ as combined items.
Festival of Choirs by the Ceylon Bible Society
At the CBS Annual Festival of Choirs which followed, held at the Trinity College Chapel, ‘Go down, Moses’ a Negro spiritual composition and ‘Lead kindly, light’ by Howard Goodall was sung by the choir.
Choir Trip to Haputale
The 2nd Term was concluded with the Choir organizing an expedition to Haputale where the Choir visited the resting place of Rev. Walter Stanley Senior and sang for a Service of Remembrance at St. Andrew’s Church Haputale. The Trip was generously hosted by Mr. & Mrs. Denham Madena and some Uva Old boys. The Choristers got the opportunity to visit the Adhisham Bungalow, Dambatanne Tea Factory and many scenic places in Haputale. The Choir is immensely grateful for the kindness of its hosts.
“Rhymes to Rhapsody” – Mind Your Music Concert
The Choir held its own non-religious music public concert “Mind Your Music” themed “Rhymes to Rhapsody’ with a smorgasbord of Music ranging from Folk to Pop on 17th September 2016 at the College Main Hall.
The choir performed fifteen compositions comprising to different types of music genres namely, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, a Negro spiritual ‘Swing Low’, ‘Tallis’ Cannon’, ‘Peter Piper’, ‘Sing a Song of sixpence’ by John Rutter, ‘Lass of Richmond Hill’, ‘Grandfather’s Clock’, ‘Just a Song at Twilight’, ‘Here, There and Everywhere’, ‘I Started a Joke’, ‘One Note Samba’, ‘Ben’ by Michael Jackson, ‘Greatest Love of All’ by Whitney Houston, ‘No Matter What’ and ‘One Thing’ by One Direction. The Tenors and Basses of the choir sang an acapella named ‘I get around’ by the Beach Boys as a special item at the Concert.
The accompanists at the concert were Dr. Suresh De Mel at the Piano, Mr. Neson George on Lead Guitar, Mr. Stephan Sansoni on Bass Guitar, Mr. Jonathan George at the Drums, Mrs. Sadhana Madasekara at the Keyboard and was directed and conducted by our Choir Master Mr. Lasantha Tennekoon.
Festival of Choirs by the Kandy Music Society
The choir was invited to perform at Girls’ High School Kandy for an annual concert organized by the ‘Kandy Music Society’. Tenors and Basses of the choir performed ‘No matter what’, ‘Peter Piper’ and ‘I get around’ in TTBB arrangements. The Performance was appreciated by the Audience.
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Picture credit: Neson George
The most celebrated event of the of the Choir,‘The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols’ was held on 4th December 2016, where the choir sang ‘E’en so, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come’ by Paul Manz, ‘Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light’ by Bach, ‘Angelus ad Virginem’ by Willcocks, ‘O magnum mysterium’ by Morten Lauridsen and ‘Sing we now of Christmas’ by Fred Prentice.
The whole service was magnificent as commented by the many from the congregation with many moved to tears with stirred emotion. Old Chorister Mr. Sharon Rajamoney was the guest soloist this year. The Carol Service as fondly known, was followed by the Traditional Dinner at the Principal’s Bungalow.
Picture credit: Amila Alahakoon
“Rocking around the Christmas Tree”
Picture credit: Trinity College Media Unit
Even though the School term ended, the year did not conclude for the Choir as yet. The Senior Choristers were invited to sing at ‘Rocking around the Christmas Tree’, a Christmas program along with the Elizabeth Moir School Choir. Tenors and Basses of the choir went to Colombo and sang ‘Ding Dong Merrily on High’ as an individual item and some well-known Christmas Carols along with the Elizabeth Moir Choir and other invited Choirs.
Christmas Eve service at the Trinity College Chapel
Picture credit: Amila Alahakoon
Trinity College had, probably its first, Christmas Eve Service, which brought an unexpected number of congregants crowd to the Chapel that delighted us. The Choir lead the Congregation as they celebrated the Joy of Christmas.
The Choir continued to play a leading role in Special days at Trinity College such as the First Day of New Entrants to College, Trinity Monday, Old Boys’ Service, Leavers’ Service and many other special activities in School. The Choir probably being the single student group at Trinity which has the most diverse assemblage of ages, religion and races of boys, it continues being a beacon of light showing the example of fostering the unique brotherly bonds which Trinity College stands for.
