Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Reviving a tradition
The Old Trinitians’ Choral’ promises to fill the air with the sounds of Christmas
By The PRC
And it will come to pass on Sunday, the 14th day of December 2003 that the Church of St. Michael and all Angels will be alight, and behold, the heavens will echo with the music sung by the Old Trinitians’ Chorale commencing 6.30 p.m. All ye are thus invited to share the good news of the birth of Christ, this Christmas season.

We had all left the land ‘where river, lake and mountain meet’ and drifted towards the great ocean. “They were great days,” we recalled, as we sat in a corner of the World Trade Center last June and shared the memories of our schooldays in the Trinity College choir.

From the weekly practices to the special performances, Sunday mass and the magnificent Carol Service, and those unforgettable choir parties not forgetting notorious “paan parties”... Those were days when the love for music bound us together...
The idea came a couple of years ago. We wanted to get back together and relive those memories but alas, our initial attempts were not successful.

This time around we were more determined. To sing in harmony like we used to, and make up for all the fun we had been missing. The task of fixing regular practices could never be easy. We had our studies and jobs so making time was the biggest challenge. But the passion for music was powerful enough to overcome those challenges.

The first day of practice was unforgettable, simply because even after many years, our voices blended well as we sang old favourites like “Yesterday”, “Here, There and Everywhere” and a few hymns. It was then that I recalled that someone had once called us “masters of Acapella music,” I started believing it again.

But there were problems. We did not have a permanent place to have our weekly practice and the turnout was much poorer than expected. But it was enough to keep us going, because after all, we wanted to sing, get together with old friends and have a good time.

We have been schooled by the century old-choral traditions at Trinity College, under Ronnie Thangiah (a Thomian) who still continues to encourage and inspire us. But perhaps the most remarkable fact about the Old Trinitians’ Chorale is that it is still trained by Denham Pereira, yet another Thomian! But then, the two schools have always maintained strong links, especially though their choral traditions, with their choirs annually conducting a joint service.

As the weeks went by, our little group grew slowly, and we managed to arrange a permanent place for practices. Today, young lawyers, marketers, senior managers, bankers and undergraduates are blending their ‘broken’ voices in harmony for the first time as a chorale, to personify the true meaning of Christmas.

We couldn’t have expected a better place than St. Michael and All Angels, Polwatte. The grand old church built with stone and wood has the perfect acoustics and the sound of the magnificent pipe organ is simply mesmerizing.

In seven more days, we will have our first Carol Service. What better way to start than by sharing the message of peace with our friends! Join us on December 14 at 6.30p.m. in the Church of St. Michael and all Angels, for a celebration of the Christmas message of “peace and goodwill to all men.”

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