Music has an international language and it can give messages in a positive way. The power of music is something to be reckoned with especially nowadays when different cultures come together for events more frequently than ever before.

The positive side of music and talent of young singers was recently showcased at Drama Theatre of Katara by 80 young singers from Sherborne Qatar School. The event was organised by Katara in co-operation with the Embassy of South Africa in Qatar and Sherborne Qatar school.

Source: Gulf Times

The choir music event called ‘Cantus’ – a celebration of voice and instruments – captivated the audience that included school children, parents, and general public. It featured the finest singers and musicians from Sherborne Prep and Senior schools.

Talking to Community, Razwan Sarwar, Head of Music at Sherborne Qatar, said: “Music has no language barriers and the event celebrated this through performances by the Sherborne Qatar pupils and various international artists”.

He said: “The event also featured international artistes based in Doha. They were namely; Lilian Sibeko (South Africa), Haydee Soul (Cuba), Andrew Larin (Ukraine), Svetlana Bogatyreva (Russia), Patrick Dilley (South Africa), Basil Adam (Syria), Sam Arts (Netherlands), Becki Wolfe (England), Sneha Erica (India) and Tessa Yon Horn-Botha (South Africa).’

He further said: “The importance of music in education for young students is an accepted reality. It is very important to share and preserve all the different cultures we have.”

The head of the music said: “Cantus opened with the Sherborne Preparatory Choir singing a classical Indian composition, followed by Thula Thula, a South African lullaby and concluded with Walking in the Air.

“It is pertinent to mention here that the choir was awarded the best repertoire award in a competition organised by Doha College for the arrangement of Walking in the Air.”

This was then followed by the talented musicians from both schools that played various pieces on the piano and the harp.

“The first half concluded with the Sherborne Senior students performing another South African lullaby and the popular song Blackbird. Sherborne Preparatory Choir completed the first half by singing a Bollywood song followed by a medley by Justin Timberlake and Jiya Re, a Bollywood song.

“The parents and guests were amazed by the performances of the pupils. They were astonished with all the different languages the pupils performed in and the standard of the performance,” said Razwan, who also thanked Nick Fawcett and Stephen Spicer, headmasters of Sherborne Qatar, and Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.

The second half of the music event opened with a percussion ensemble featuring the Indian tabla, darbuka and the djembe. The event then concluded with an amazing performance by Lilian Sibeko, who is a renowned opera singer from South Africa. The audience was captivated by her voice and her presence.

Nick Prowse, Principal of Sherborne Qatar, was very impressed and thanked all students, parents and the school staff for making the event a success.

After the event, Faizel Moosa, Ambassador of South Africa to Qatar, talked to Community and said: “Today’s youth are the leaders of the future. We must invest in the youth through music and cultural activities. The performances were very special. The renditions were very representative. I thank Dr Khalid Ibrahim al-Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara, and Sherborne Qatar School for bringing about the beautiful performances.”

He added: “We in South Africa believe that music speaks an international language putting the message across cultures and countries. It has the power to bring different people together. The South Africans have also used their music to galvanise the world and to get their leader Nelson Mandela out of prisons.
Nina Clayton, a parent, said: “It was an amazing evening showing brilliant improvisation by excellent talent, truly inspirational. The pupils are experiencing so much at a young age.

Laila Sultan, another parent, said: “It was very enchanting to see young singers from diverse backgrounds performing in harmony at one place. The strength of music in uniting people was very vivid at the drama theatre.”

Source: https://www.gulf-times.com/story/643631/Sherborne-Qatar-pupils-galvanise-audience-at-choir

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