Stuti Choral Ensemble will present its Lenten concert under the baton of their director, Parvesh Java. The 50 members choir with four solists, 20 member orchestra and a pianist will perform at St Thomas Church, Aldona on February 25 and at Bom Jesus Basilica, Old Goa on February 26. Both the concerts will begin at 7 pm.
Stuti Choral Ensemble, Goa founded in February 2009, is a group of singers, professionals in various fields bound together by the love for choral music. The aim of Stuti Choral Ensemble, Goa is to promote public performances in various parts of Goa to foster a culture of choral music within the State and also to showcase Goa’s unique musical talent to the world.
For this concert, the programme on both days will last for one hour without intermission and will include Handel’s Messiah Part II with four soloists, Farah Ghadiali, Subin Mathai, Kersi Ghazdar and Goa’s very own Oscar Dom Victor Castellino singing the grand aria, ‘Why do the nations so furiously rage together?.’
St Thomas Church, Aldona was founded in 1569 while the construction of Bom Jesus Basilica, Old Goa began in 1594 and the church was consecrated in May 1605. Both these historic venues are designed acoustically to experience the glory of live unamplified sacred choral music.
Speaking about the rehearsals for the concert, Parvesh says, “This concert is for the Lenten season and we have only two concerts. We began rehearsals in the second week of January and had the last rehearsal on Thursday. Everyone is very efficient and the rehearsals were well attended. We have four solos. I consider ‘Why do the nations so furiously rage together?’ to be the high point of the piece and Oscar will give a powerful performance.”
Originally from Assagao, Oscar is an alumnus of the prestigious Royal College of Music, London and sang for Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the river Thames in 2012. He has been performing in the UK since 2012 and is back to Goa after nearly six years. “I enjoyed rehearsing with the choir as singing is difficult and there is a lot of music to get through and the choir was amazing,” says Oscar, who will be performing in two concerts in Mumbai for the Bombay Chamber Orchestra with Farah Ghadiali and the ‘The Seven Last Words of Christ’ by Joseph Haydn with the Newman Choir.
