The World Virtual Choir Festival 2 was organised by the Bandung Choral Society, Indonesia from December 1-6. A total of 72 choir groups from around the world participated in seven categories – Children’s Choir, Youth Choir, Pop and Jazz, Mixed Choir, Folklore, Sacred Music and Christmas Song.
The children of Shillong’s Kiddies Corner School participated in Children’s Choir (KC Lights) and Pop and Jazz (KC Lights – The Family). They won gold medals in both the categories.
Sunday Shillong spoke to Brian Neil Wahlang, the school’s Principal to know how the children prepared for the festival.
The KC Lights group had 20 members aged 6-13 years while the KC Lights – The Family group had 32 comprising seniors and past pupils. KC Lights sang “You Say”. The lead singers were Gabriella War, MedadajiedKharbithai and AimeiakaDkhar.
The Preparation
After receiving the invitation to participate in the festival, the participants had to send in the registration fee together with full details of the choir, the categories they wanted to participate in, the songs they planned to sing (including, getting the rights of the same) and the name of the conductor, etc.
Mr. Wahlang sent the selected song to the children for practice at home. Vocal exercises were part of the routine as well. He listened to their voices and accordingly, divided them into various harmonies. Elsa Dkhar, pianist and music teacher of the school helped both groups with the songs.
The same process was followed for the other group. They sang “Africa”. ElzaRymbai (keyboards), Vincent Tariang (drums), John Rymbai (bass/percussion) and KynsaiKupar Manners (guitar) were part of this group.
Once the practice session was over, they were ready for the next step – making the video. This was done in school by Kynsai and Emi, past pupils of the school. The children had oodles of fun while making the video and it was a learning experience for them. The final editing was done by Kynsai and his brother, Frankensince. The edited video was sent to the Bandung Choral Society.
For KC Lights – The Family, a small makeshift studio was set up in the school. John Rymbai, an ex-student now in Class XI emerged as the leader of the pack. He ensured a smooth recording. Emi and Kynsai pitched in with the video. After the shoot, Emi took over to put the whole video together.
They had to send the scores much earlier as the judges needed them to do their job. There were five judges from South Korea, Italy, Philippines and Indonesia.
The Journey
For Mr. Wahlang, who was also the conductor of the group, the journey was a beautiful moment of bonding with each other. Not only were the children happy to see each other, people came out of their shell and confidently took charge and responsibility. They wanted to make the country proud by winning in both categories. The professionalism, the excitement, the fun – all of it was worth it!
KC Lights performed on December 2, KC Lights – The Family on December 4. The closing ceremony was on December 6. Even though they could not be together on the final day, they watched it live on YouTube. KC Lights – The Family won the award for ‘Most Inspiring Choir’ under the Special Awards section. Soon, the winners were announced and they won in both categories.
Making India, Meghalaya Proud
The people of Meghalaya have always made us and the country proud in the field of music. Sunday Shillong congratulates Wahlang and his musical family for this achievement.
May the laurels continue to come.