I went for this event held at St Peter St Paul to celebrate the feast of St Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians and choristers. It was a humbling experience for me.
Some choirs shared their favourite songs with us and God used their voices to enter my heart. They really brought out the meaning of the lyrics and brought God out in the process. Blest Are They is a song that brought me close to tears. I have heard this hymn before but the chorus that begins with "Rejoice and be glad." had a different effect on me this time. Perhaps God used it to minister to my subconscious needs. The spirit they exuded while singing was inspiring and the sharing was not just a performance to them. They were humble in the midst of it.
I heard some new songs which were pleasantly melodious too. Worthy Is The Lamb(not the Hillsong) is one of them. The melody was simple and was an arrangement which I usually like.
We had sectionals on two pieces as a combined choir. It was such a wonderful experience. We got to know new fellow choristers. It was a great feeling being amongst choristers with different levels of singing and a great willingness to learn.
Some were first-time choristers and their enthusiasm as well as effort were heartwarming :) There were choristers as old as 60 and 75 years old!
When we combined with the other sections to sing the pieces, the gothic design of the church enriched our voices and we sounded really good. It was such a beautiful sound. I sat with some Filipino choristers from the newly-formed Divine Mercy choir and they were really nice people to be with. I hope to see them again in similar events in the future. :)
We learnt the Gregorian chants for Lord Have Mercy, Holy Holy and The Lord's Prayer. Surprisingly, the notations were easy to follow and the tunes were thus easy to get. As long as we have a musical instinct, and know how to sight-read, listen and memorise, this will be a much easier task :)
