THE Trinidad and Tobago Music Festival on the morning of February 29 at Queen's Hall, St Ann's had scenes of great joy and deep disappointment for the pupil performers when several finals were held for the north Trinidad zone, ahead of the festival's kick-off in south Trinidad on March 4 at Naparima Bowl.
In one class – girls vocal trios – only one trio turned up and had challenges with the piece.
Also, while four under-19 choirs performed, only one – St Joseph's Convent (SJC), Port of Spain – was judged good enough to proceed to the national grand finale for its astounding performance. SJC singers also won the vocal solo ages 13-15 years category and braved the trio class.
Setting the stage for the drama to come with the choirs were the under-15 contemporary religious solos, which had thrills and spills.
Kedel Fariah offered Faith, Hope, Love. Starting soft and shy, he then loudly sang the refrain, "Oh, oh, oh!", drawing confidence to boost his projection until he was positively rocking it on stage. Jayda Job – very small on stage, with a little voice – bravely sang, "Count your blessings."
Nicolette Mc Leish had a really great gospel music vibe with He Wants It All. Her very sweet voice had a nice flow, including a bit of soprano, despite projection challenges. Kiowa Mike sang My Tribute with her voice capturing a stillness in the moment wonderfully.
Josiah Thompson was a small boy with a small voice on a big stage and when he looked out into the large auditorium had a bout of stage fright, singing Believe For.
"There is power in your name!" he soldiered on bravely to complete his piece, to the audience's appreciation.
Sapphire Wong Chong-Achee opted for a guitar accompaniment instead of the pianist option used by all others.
She gave a good performance of How Great Thou Art, ending by blasting out at soprano level, "How great Thou art!"
Iennesha Bailey has a very beautiful voice with a fair projection, offering, You Raise Me Up.
Deneisha Dempster had a great stage presence, singing Via Dolorosa in English and Italian.
Irving Edwards had a great projection and some good vibrato to offer Loving Me, aided by his relaxed disposition and a wonderful piano introduction.
Adjudicator Nadine Gonzales adjudged Chong-Achee as the top performer. However, she did not reveal the low marks scored, not wishing to taint the day's memories. She advised singers to carefully choose their songs to match their voice, style and age, not just emulate something nice they had heard on the radio.
Saying she too had once felt stage fright, she hailed Thompson for carrying on to finish his piece.
"Very well done to that young man," she said, "And to all of you."
In the under-19 single-sex choirs, St Augustine Girls' High School (SAGHS) gave an adequate performance of the test piece Pretty Pollie Pillicote by Gordon Jacob.
St Joseph's Convent, however, owned the stage. Their singers had more power in their voices, with their choir being well-sectioned to create effective contrast.
Gonzales said SAGHS had
