Two Sri Lankan choirs, the Revelations and Soul Sounds competing in the World Choir Games in Graz, Austria have done the country proud winning Gold medals in this international arena.

Male vocal ensemble 'The Revelations' conducted by Sanjeev Jayaratnam secured 1st place in the Gospel and Spiritual - Vocal Ensemble category, being crowned Champions in this section and a Silver medal in the Popular Choral Music (a'capella) category. Soul Sounds, Sri Lanka's premier female choir won a Gold medal in the Open Popular Choral Music Category and a Silver medal in the Open Gospel Category. Soul Sounds is directed by Soundarie David and Jerome L. de Silva.

Revelations

The Revelations being crowned Champions comes as another triumph following their success at last year’s Asian Choir Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. When a group is named Champions of a category, the country's flag is hoisted and the National Anthem played. It was indeed a very solemn and emotional moment for the Revelations when they were announced as Champions in the Gospel and Spiritual - Vocal Ensemble category and when the Sri Lankan flag was hoisted and everyone in the stadium rose to their feet for the Sri Lankan National Anthem.

For the Soul Sounds, winning a gold in the Open Category is a significant achievement as they competed against large choirs from across the globe including the USA, South Africa, China, Germany, Austria and Australia, among others. Soul Sounds competed against more than 25 choirs to bag their medals, with a high score of 81.88 for the Gold. Members of the jury speaking to the choir after the competition, commended the choir on their versatility, passion and soul. The musicians include Neranjan De Silva and Christopher Prins.

Following the competition Soul Sounds will be performing in New Delhi on July 20 at a concert organised by the Sri Lankan High Commission and the Nirmana Foundation.

Soul Sounds was supported by Sri Lanka Tourism together with Deutsche Bank, The Dr. Earl De Fonseka Trust Fund, Suntel, Asia Capital, Dialog Telekom, Janashakthi Insurance, Alpha Orient Lanka and all other corporate sponsors. Soul Sounds is also thankful to their print media sponsors The Sunday Times and their electronic media sponsors Yes FM and Channel One MTV.

Revelations, the ex-Thomian choral outfit faced stiff competition from much larger groups from the USA, Croatia, Romania, Jamaica and Indonesia amongst others in their quest to place Sri Lanka at the pinnacle of the world music rankings. Two compositions of the four songs performed by them in the Gospel selection were arranged by Sanjeev Jayaratnam.

Soul Sounds

The group comprises Sanjeev Jayaratnam, Srimanthaka Senanayake, Enaksha Fernando, Charith Peris, Willie Godridge, Rohan de Lanerolle, Asanka Perera, Christopher Godridge, Mahen Peiris, Ishan de Lanerolle and Priyan de Livera – Manager.

Priyan de Livera explained how a choir gets the title of 'Champions of the World Choir Games', in a particular category. The marking was as follows for all choirs, as regards awarding of medals - Bronze medal - 60 to 70, Silver medal - 70 to 80, and Gold medal - 80 to 100.

As such there could be multiple choirs being awarded gold medals per category as more than one choir could get over 80 marks. However, it is the choir that gets the highest marks amongst the gold medalists, that is crowned Champions of the World Choir Games in that category - which was the case with The Revelations.

President of the Revelations - Ishan de Lanerolle said that the group was thankful to Deshamanya Lalith Kothalawala and Seylan Bank for sponsoring them and made special mention of Tigo, Lou Ching Wong who sponsored their costumes, their electronic media sponsors MTV, YES FM and print media sponsors Daily Mirror and The Sunday Times.

Thanking their supporters and well wishers for their continued support, he said the Revelations would arrange a concert which would feature their World Choir Games repertoire on their return.