The Harmony International Music Foundation is organising Cadence 2014, a Broadway-themed concert in support of Parikrma Humanity Foundation. The concert on Sunday, will have performances by over 150 children and youth from the Harmony Music School (the brainchild of Ryan and Sandra Oberoi) and Preeta Dance Academy.
Sandra Oberoi, the director says: “I usually decide the theme for Cadence a year in advance and bring my music from the U.S.A to perform the following year. This year however, it was a little different. I enrolled two of my voice students Anezka Kurian and Alex Koshy in an international voice competition. They were the only participants from India and won the second place in the musical theatre category. They will be performing their audition songs at Carnegie Hall, New York City, in December.
With this win, I decided to showcase them and many other talented students who work so hard in perfecting their art. After watching a few shows at Broadway this year with the aim of replicating some of its grandeur here in our city, I froze on the characters we could showcase at this concert.”
While Broadway is the theme of the event, Sandra says: “This is not an entire musical but many different songs taken from different Broadway and West End hits including The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, My Fair Lady, Matilda, The Sound of Music, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Cats , and others. A host of Broadway characters will light up the stage for an hour and a half.”
The show, sponsored by the Legacy Group, has been choreographed by Janice Caroline and Preeta Pereira. Soloists at Cadence 2014 include Anezka Kurian, Tiara Oberoi, Shubhangi Das Nadia Thomas, Rena Abraham, Chloe Chelli, Pranav Veeragantha, Pritika Joseph, Benny Godwin, Ishita U, Karan Macaden, Neha Jacob, Neil Bhushan, Tiana Oberoi, Cassia Prince, and Anishka Nambiar.
The choir has been practicing diligently for a while now. “I am so blessed to have students who are extremely committed, dedicated, and very hardworking which makes things easy for a director. However, I did face a few challenges putting this production together,” Sandra states, adding, “The children who are singing have to act and dance as well. Some songs require intricate footwork and tremendous concentration to get it right. Others demand oodles of energy. Each song represented at Cadence is different from the other, the sets, mood, costumes and singing style varies. My biggest challenge was to get all 167 students in the production to emote, dance, and sing, at the same time.”
Cadence 2014 is on November 30, at 6.30 p.m. at Jyoti Nivas Auditorium. Donor passes are available at bookmyshow.com and at the Harmony office, Koramangala.
For details, call 9343628255.
