On December 8, Bishop Anstey High School hall will be filled with a Ceremony of Carols when the Bishop Anstey Choir presents Benjamin Britten's 70-year-old choral piece. The 55 young singers will be accompanied by past students Adafih Padmore and Nakita Gadsby, as well as the Bishop Anstey Steel Ensemble-an interesting substitution in the harp and piano arrangement, according to music director Lorraine Granderson. An additional guest appearance will be made by the Bishop Anstey Junior Choir.
The concert will also include traditional parang, dance choreographed by Adele Bynoe and performances of popular Christmas carols. Granderson's choice of Britten's work was in part nostalgic; as a past student of the school she sang the choral piece. A Ceremony of Carols was also a challenge to her young students since the piece is written in the Old English language, she said. "I was looking for something a little different to do and when I found something arranged entirely for girls' voices I just went for it. I think this is going to be a great performance and not something we're accustomed to hearing around this time."
This is the first fund-raiser for the choir's trip to South Africa in 2013 to participate in the Ihlombe South African Choral Festival. Granderson, who took over the school's music programme in 1996, told Sunday Arts in a telephone interview that music has always been an integral part of the Bishop Anstey education since its doors opened in 1921. "We have always had a choir and music has been a central part of the life of the school. In fact, our first music teacher was Helen May Johnson, who was majorly responsible for the opening of Queen's Hall and the growth of Music Festival," she said.
Notable past students include Jocelyn Carr-Sealy, who has led the choir herself, and the late Pat Bishop, director of the Lydians. Apart from consistent success at the biennial Trinidad and Tobago Music Festival, starting in 2005 the choir embarked on a series of overseas trips and successful participation in international music festivals such as the Eisteddfod International Music Festival in Wales and the Rhapsody Music Festival in Vienna. At Eisteddfodd in both 2005 and 2007, Bishop Anstey Choir was the only Caribbean participant, placing second and third in more than three categories of the competition. Although the Ihlombe Festival is not a competition, they expect similar success and Granderson believes the hefty amount of money needed to get students to South Africa is more than worth it.
For tickets
Tickets for a Ceremony of Carols cost $100 and are available at the Bishop Anstey High School's office. The show runs December 8 at 6.30 pm and December 9 at 5 pm. For more information, contact Lorraine Granderson at 739-6926 or Damara Clarke-Marshall at 723-1799.