Aural treat for lovers of music at Bishop Heber College

A shower of sacred music helped bring relief from the sweltering heat to the assembled gathering at the Bishop Heber College on Saturday, as local group Singspirations joined hands with Madurai-based male choir Noel Opus and Chennai’s String Orchestra for a ‘Colours of Grace’ concert.

Held in aid of Mission to the Blind, the concert was an aural treat for lovers of choral and Western classical music in the city. Twenty-one choir songs in English and Tamil, besides an instrumental rendition of Mozart’s ‘Symphony No. 25, Allegro Con Brio’ by the String Orchestra were presented at the concert.

The evening started with the Invocation ‘Holy is the Lord’ by the entire team of performers. It was followed by ‘Come Christian’. ‘Joshua fit the battle of Jericho’, a well-known African-American gospel anthem, was expertly performed next. ‘Yesu Endra Thirunaamarthirku’, ‘Climbin’ up the Mountain’, and ‘Thirupaadam Nambi Vandaen’ formed the first section.

The second section comprised of ‘Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door’, ‘Days of Elijah’ (with solo by Latina Sharon), ‘On Eagle’s Wings, Gregorio Allegri’s ‘Have Mercy Upon Me’ with a duet by Deborah and Hannah and Henry Purcell’s ‘Hark How the Songster’.

Noel Opus from Madurai took the floor for the third section. Known for specialising in the ‘a cappella’ style of singing without musical accompaniment, the group rendered Gary Miller’s ‘Can He Could He Would He’, the Tamil song ‘Urugi Odum’ and their most popular number ‘Low Down the Chariot’, besides the Johann Strauss composition ‘Mein Herr Marquis’ in their section.

The Mozart masterpiece ‘Symphony No. 25 – Allegro Con Brio’ was performed with finesse by String Orchestra of Chennai.

This was followed by two more sections of choral numbers like ‘What Though I Trace Each Herb and Flower’ (solo by Evelyn Jeevanandhini), ‘Ave Verum’, ‘Behold the Lamb of God’ and ‘All We Like Sheep’. The concluding number ‘The Heavens Are Telling’ from Franz Joseph Haydn’s ‘Creation’ had a trio rendition by Evelyn, Latina and Joanna.

Singspirations conductor and founder of Crescendo Music House B. Jonath Backia Seelan directed most of the evening’s performances. The entire proceeds of the concert were donated to Mission to the Blind, a Christian missionary organisation that works for those with visual impairment in 18 states of India. Samuel Christopher welcomed the gathering.