Six languages, 12 sublime choral compositions, 45 singers, 22 musicians and one maestro par excellence, the Concert of Sacred Music with meditations on the Mystery of the Incarnation of Our Lord, is something not to be missed for its musical brilliance.
These Concerts are meant to present the
beauty and sublimity of Sacred Music that developed in the Christian tradition.
The programme chosen is to lead towards a meditation, using the medium of music
and song, on one of the mysteries of our Catholic Faith: the Mystery of the
Incarnation of Our Lord. The Incarnation is the starting point for our
redemption, brought about by the Paschal Mystery of Christ. So, the salutation
of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary, a young girl from Nazareth, chosen by the
Lord to send Jesus into the world, can be considered as the kick-off of this
singular event of the Incarnation of our Saviour.
The ‘Hail Mary’, uttered by this heavenly messenger sent by God
to Mary, along with the popular prayer of supplication – the ‘Holy Mary’ – is
perhaps the most popular prayer on the lips of the Catholic faithful all over
the world. Mary is hailed for having accepted God’s design for her and she is
invoked as a powerful intercessor for the pilgrim Church on earth.
The concerts will be held at three different venues, on March 19
at Penha de França Church at 6.30 pm, on March 22 at Our Lady of Succour and
Good Success, Nagoa de Verna at 6.30 pm and at Santa Monica Convent Church, Old
Goa, on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord, at 6.45 pm. This final
concert is in support of the Museum of Christian Art, Old Goa. The concert will
of about one hour and 15 minutes with the reflections.
The singers and musicians will render 12 sublime choral
compositions of this invocation that were set to music by composers down the
ages, in various languages and different musical traditions and eras. There
will seven compositions in Latin, and one each in Aramaic, the language spoken
by Jesus, Russian, Greek, Sanskrit and Konkani.
The conductor of the Choir and Orchestra is Maestro Fr Romeo
Monteiro, a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, and presently
the Chancellor of the Archdiocese. He was also Professor of Theology and Music
at the Major Seminary at Rachol, in which capacity, he gave several performances
with the Santa Cecilia Choir and Orchestra. He is at present also engaged as
the Director of the Department of Western Music of the Kala Academy Goa. He did
his musical studies initially under Maestro Fr Lourdino Barreto and Philomena
D’Cruz. He graduated in Violin at the Kala Academy Goa. Later, in Rome he
frequented the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music and the Pontifical
Athenaeum of St Anselm, where he gained expertise in Composition and Liturgical
Music, under the tutelage of Maestro Silvano Prescuittini and Maestro Dom
Jordi-Agustí Piqué i Collado, OSB. He has given several recitals of choral and
orchestral music in various places in Goa during the past few years.
The choir and orchestra consists of members from all over Goa,
right from Cavelossim, Assolna, Orlim in the South to Aldona and Siolim in the
North. They have been diligently practising for over a month to bring the best
of the concert world to a Goan audience.
The programme of the day will include ‘Ave Maria – WAB 6’
composed by Anton Bruckner, ‘Chaire Maria’- Ave Maria in Greek, the language in
which the angelic salutation is recorded in the New Testament, composed by
Romeo Monteiro, ‘Ave Maria,’ composed by Arcadelt-Dietsch, ‘Ave Maria,’
composed by Joseph Haydn, ‘Shlom Lech Maryam’- Ave Maria in Aramaic, the
language in which Mary heard the angelic salutation, a traditional tune,
arranged by Romeo Monteiro, ‘Ave Maria’, composed by Domenico Bartolucci,
‘Namaste Maryame’ - Ave Maria in Sanskrit, based on Vedic traditional chant, composed
by Romeo Monteiro, ‘Bogoroditse Djevo’ - Ave Maria in Russian, according to the
tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church, composed by Serjei Rachmaninoff, ‘Ave
Maria’ composed by Caesar Franck, ‘Noman Mariê’ - Ave Maria in Konkani,
composed by Romeo Monteiro, ‘Ave Maria’ (with boy soprano voices), composed by
Romeo Monteiro and ‘Ave Maria,’ composed by Bach-Gounod, arranged by Romeo
Monteiro.
The harmonious voices will blend together by the soprano, alto,
tenor and bass singers. The soprano singers are Preethi Coutinho, Vanya Costa
Pereira, Leanne Costa Pereira, Leticia Mascarenhas, Ranisa Azavedo, Samira
Pacheco, Noemia da Silva and Ruchita Gomes. The alto singers are Rhea Elvira
Dias, Marina Vaz, Dynisha Abreu, Monica Fernandes, Nikita Machado, Rheane da
Silva, Tamanna Pariani and Corina Soares e Fernandes. The tenor singers are
Noel de Souza, Herman Costa Pereira, Melvin Fernandes, Alico Fernandes, Lino
Dias, Brian Barreto, Seby Basilio Vaz and Clinton Fernandes while the bass
voices are bass singers are Ameet Vaz, Juwel Pereira, Joism de Souza, Carlos
Noronha, Joshua Dias, Melchior Pinto, Agostino Fernandes, Antonio Bosco Dias
and Constance Diniz.
For the first time, a Boy Soprano Choir will be performing for a
concert and an Ave Maria is written especially for them along with the choir
and orchestra. The Boy Sopranos Choir will include Neil Vaz, Yuri Vaz, Kingston
D’Souza, Ezekiel Mascarenhas, Blasio Gonsalves, Zev Rodrigues, Reuben Dalgado,
Jayden Dalgado, Jonah Dalgado, Yohann Rodrigues, Mandred Viegas and Kristopher
Rego.
The
musicians will include Judyline Fernandes, Karen Coelho, Serilda Carvalho and
Janice Parras on violin, Velerio Mascarenhas, Rhea D’Souza, Zuzeth Cardozo and
Sarah D’Souza on violin, Brandon Fernandes and Cherryl Gonsalves on viola,
Teresa Figuereido, Jenny Fernandes and Reanne Mendes on cello, Vozlar Pereira
and Jesus Nazareth Fernandes on double bass, Seby Basilio Vaz on flute, Roy
Menezes and Ian Lobo on clarinet, Kristine SanFrancisco, Karoline SanFrancisco
and Sofie SanFrancisco on trumpet and Deborah Pereira on trombone.