The local group Singspirations put forth yet another eclectic collection of songs for a mega fund-raiser concert at Sangam Hotel on Saturday which had the audience of over 1,000 asking for more.
The ticketed Saturday evening concert, billed ‘We Are Called’, was aimed at raising funds to support 2,513 orphans and children from economically backward families served by the Christian charity Navjeevan Seva Mandal.
The talents of the 55-member Singspirations mixed choir were on full flow with a playlist that included Western classical and instrumental, jazz, contemporary and Tamil devotional songs.
The evening started with a solemn rendering of the invocation anthem ‘Sanctus’, which was followed by the various ‘packages’ featuring 19 songs and the instrumental presentation ‘Waltz No. 2’ composed by Dmitri Shostakovich.
“We tried to bring in a greater vocal quality in this year’s concert, to show the rhythmic content of songs. We replaced the instrumental sections of some songs with capella elements,” Singspirations director B. Jonath Backia Seelan, told The Hindu .
Perhaps the most complex rendition of the evening was Kirby Shaw’s ‘Take Me To The River’, where the team was accompanied by drums and bass guitar. Anaadhi Devan, penned by Sarah Navaroji, was another notable Tamil number in the first section.
The second part of the concert opened with a solo rendition of George Frideric Handel’s song ‘Revenge, Timotheous Cries.’ The Tamil numbers ‘Paavathin Balan’ and ‘Endhan Vaanjai’ were performed by the male singers of the group. ‘Kutta Saheyu’ and ‘Irul Soolndha’ followed.
After an instrumental presentation of Waltz No. 2, contemporary songs lightened the mood of the concert. Besides songs from Hollywood productions like ‘Strong’ from Cinderella and ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ from The Lion King, Nat King Cole’s 1945 jazz number ‘The Frim Fram Sauce’ and Harry Belafonte’s 1977 song ‘Turn the World Around’ appealed to the younger listeners.
Jonath Backia Seelan arranged the music for most of the evening’s songs, while Latina was the compère for the concert.
