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It was almost like Colombo’s kick-off to the Christmas season.  Jith Pieris’s  production Silver Bells staged at the Ladies Colloege auditorium on December 5th proved to be a grand sucess at the box office.

As always he timed his production in the early part of December; which probably works well as a marketing tactic as it sits well on ones Christmas calendar. Whatever the reason, it certainly put everyone at the performance in the seasonal mood.

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El Latino Dancers

Jith’s forte lies in how he mixes the various components – takes different performance sequences and put them together with his own special touch and make it work.  The result is a perfect evening’s entertainment for an audience which is a complete mix of young, old and even the adolescent.

This time his seasonal Musical was titled ‘It’s Christmas Time in the City – Silver Bells’ and was well compacted into two-hours of song, dance and instrumental performances. 

The Favourites

It was hard to judge the best amongst the choirs: Soul Sounds, Menaka Singers and the Josephian Choir were all in excellent form and gave brilliant performances, each giving their own unique touch to the familiar carols we like to hear during this season.

The Menaka Singers Junior Choir was probably the favourite among the audience.   Their performance was well on par with the adult choirs, and added that special touch to the Christmas program.

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Menaka Singers Junior Choir

The Menaka Singers has been in existence for nearly 10 years.   The junior choir trained by them comprised of nearly 40 young voices from ages 5 to 10 and sang ‘Silver Bells’, ‘I saw mummy kissing Santa Claus’ and ‘Santa Claus is coming to town’.  The senior choir which performed also comprised of close to 40 voices.

(Please see below for more pictures)

Being a part of a show that was contributing towards the less fortunate during the season was a special occasion for her choristers “It’s a time for sharing and giving” said founder of the School, Menaka De Fonseka Sahabandu.  She said that Most of those in the choir come for individual singing or music lessons, adding that the need for collective singing grew over time when she realized the talents, enthusiasm and passion of her students deserved to come together.

Christmas Cheer

Soul Sounds first came into the limelight as the Holy Family Convent Senior choir and has gone on to become a professional outfit, winning international awards for their performances - including two silver medals at the 4th World Choir Games 2006 in China and Three Gold Medals in the 5th World Choir Games in Austria in 2008. The choir sang ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’, ‘Christmas is Here’ and ‘Drummer Boy’.

(See below for videos)

The Old Joes Choir under guidance of their choral director Deshan Cooray sang ‘On the Saviours Day’, ‘Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ and ‘It Came Upon a Midnight Clear’.

Also performing at the concert was Kevin Nugera’s dance troupe El Latino with the Jingle Bell Jive, solo performances by Natalia Gunaratne, Eshantha de Andrado, Noeline Honter, Monique, Shanelle and a Christmas Medley sung by Saveetha, Dimithri and Trudy along with a piano recital by Soundarie David and Menaka de Fonseka Sahabandu.

Soul Sounds	Menaka Singers Junior Choir	El Latino
Menaka Singers Senior Choir	Menaka Singers Junior Choir	alt

Menaka Singers Junior Choir	Saveetha, Dimithri and Trudy	El Latino	Menaka Singers Senior Choir
Soul Sounds	Menaka Singers Junior Choir	The Old Joe's Choir	Jith Pieris and Natalia at curtain call

Dance Performances by El Latino