The fragrance of yesteryears

Light rain showers, Friday evening and a bouquet of vibrant choral selections from the 80s. Bring together all of these and you have the perfect recipe for a great start to the weekend. Well, Bengalureans did have it all last week when the Kiara Silver Chorale thrilled audiences with the choicest numbers from the 80s in their dazzling voices at Alliance Francaise.

The peppy show put up by the members of Kiara Music Academy (in two slots) was sold out much in advance and kept everyone glued to their seats right uptil the finish. Titled ‘An 80s Bandwagon’, the idea was conceived by Tina Dickson Franco, assistant director at KMA. “Tina and I put together the repertoire as we felt that music from the 80s has a wide and prevalent reach across ages, tastes and generations, and the era itself produced some of the most famous performers of all times, from Michael Jackson to Whitney Houston,” said Wendy Dickson, director of the academy.

The Kiara Kids and Teens Chorale, comprising children from five to 14 of which many have parents in the Silver Chorale, also exhibited their talent. With Avinash Grubb on piano, Bradley Cotter on lead guitar, Daniel Sequeira on bass guitar and Theodora Murray on drums, the performance got off to a refreshing start with the legendary Michael Jackson number ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’. Young dancers directed by choreographer Minoti Ramachandra grooved along with the number, setting the mood for the evening.

This made way for an evocative tribute to MJ through ‘Rock With You’. Following that, the female ensemble of the choir presented an a cappella performance of Cyndi Lauper’s iconic hit ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’, which had the crowd swaying to the tunes. A select group from the choir gave an enjoyable rendition of ‘That’s What Friends Are For’, taking one back to good times spent with buddies.

While the songs and the music surely transported one into a trance of sorts, Wendy Dickson’s able conduction of the choir also won her much applause as she guided them skillfully and gracefully.

Meanwhile, popular duet ‘Islands In The Stream’ sung by Tina and Jonathan Smith saw everyone tapping their feet. An interesting medley of ‘Wake Me Up’, ‘Karma Chameleon’ and ‘Sweet Dreams Are Made Of These’ also got much appreciation.

As Wendy put it, “Kiara is a platform where families come together to share their gift of music”, members of the Kiara Kids and Teens Chorale animatedly presented ‘All Night Long’ and ‘Africa’ with some jumps, rubbing of hands and clicking of fingers. And this was not all. The soloists, aptly chosen on the basis of their singing styles and voice types, too crooned some magical melodies. ‘Time After Time’ was beautifully interpreted by Krupa Hebbar while Bryan Adams’ rock classic ‘Summer of ‘69’ struck a chord of nostalgia in Sarala Sherpa’s voice. Samantha Megan Peck charmed the audience with the Whitney Houston classic ‘I Will Always Love You’ in her high soprano.

Tenor Deepak Lazarus spilled his charm with ‘I Wanna Know What Love Is’, perfectly suited to his sparkling voice, and Tina rendered ‘Black Velvet’ in her husky and impassioned style. The programme came to an end with ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, an energetic and powerful closing rendition by Deepak and Jonathan Ian Franco with the Kiara Kids and Teens Chorale.

Without a doubt, the 90-minute performance left everyone spellbound and perhaps, pining for another show soon. One had to be there to be enveloped in the warmth of music.