Showtime at UWI Chapel despite COVID - Virtual carol service dazzles viewers
Published:Sunday | December 20, 2020 | 12:20 AMDave Rodney - Sunday Gleaner Writer
The much-anticipated, decades-old Kingston Christmas tradition of the annual University Singers carol service took place last Sunday at the University Chapel, at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus.
The festival of nine lessons and carols was viewed live by hundreds on YouTube, and it has subsequently been already enjoyed online by a global audience of over 20,000 music lovers, faithfuls, and past and present members and friends of the university’s worldwide community. This event has been jam-packed as far back as memory recalls, from the 70s, and securing a seat required early arrival. This year was radically different. COVID-19 dictated the protocols of the service and how the music was presented. But despite the pandemic, the event found its largest audience ever, and it dazzled with great fanfare, serving up a magical blend of bible readings and Christmas carols, telling the story of the birth of Christ.
“We have not had a single rehearsal since March this year when the UWI campus closed due to the pandemic,” musical director and principal conductor of University Singers, Franklin E Halliburton, told The Sunday Gleaner. “The activity of choral singing has been widely regarded as a super spreader of the disease, so we have tried our best not to engage in singing together as a group. For the carol service we had to rely on solo items from within our repertoire, as well as, invite a few guest instrumentalists and performers to craft Sunday’s programme, while observing all the COVID-19 protocols,” Halliburton stated.
The strategy worked. Only 16 of the 45 active members of University Singers performed due to the new restraints, but as it turned out, the carol service was a full-bodied, exciting and soul-satisfying feast of music. It offered a combination of traditional carols like the processional, Once in Royal David’s City to O Come All Ye Faithful and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, alongside Caribbean treasures such as Clyde Hoyte’s O’er Our Blue Mountain, sung by seasoned baritone Hanief Lallo, and De Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy with the University Singers and the congregation. Jesus’ cradle must have reverberated from as far away as Bethlehem with the sensational and dramatic An’ She Rock The Baby, performed by soprano and prominent attorney, Carolyn Reid-Cameron, and arranged by Franklin E Halliburton and Christopher Whyte. Jaws dropped with Althea McKenzie’s celestial interpretation of O Holy Night, with the University Singers. Other standout performances were abundant throughout the evening, including solos by Kester Bailey, a member of University Singers performing Albert Hay Malotte’s The Lord’s Prayer. Musical sparks came from Christena Richards, Ranice Barrett, Amba Chevannes and Christopher Whyte. Dr Althea Neblett, oboist, performed Morricone’s Gabriel Oboe with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Jamaica. And Angela Magnus played the steel pan.
In his reflections, the Anglican chaplain Reverend Canon Garth Minott of the UWI, plucked nerves from the pulpit with his analysis of the nativity, human sexuality and character. And, with limited space in the chapel, Michael Small, a second year student in UWI’s Faculty of Sport, danced his way into the hearts of a truly international audience with Fairest Lord Jesus. Organist for the service was Archie Dunkley.
Dr Donovan Stanberry, campus registrar at UWI Mona extended a warm welcome to all. The nine lessons were read by students and faculty members, and the service was moderated by Reverend Neilson Waithe, Moravian chaplain. Others attending from the university’s executive team were Professor Dale Webber, pro-vice-chancellor and principal; Professor Ian Boxhill, deputy principal; Dr Patrick Prendergast, director of the Western Jamaica campus and Catherine Parke-Thwaites, campus bursar.
Judging from online comments during and after the service, it was clear that the response to the carol service was overwhelmingly positive. “Many people from all over the world reached out to congratulate us on lifting their spirits in this time of doom and gloom and we are all very appreciative of their heartfelt thanks,” Halliburton, who has been affiliated with University Singers for nearly a quarter century revealed. “We will continue to play our part in using music to uplift those around us.”
Patricia Reid-Waugh, a Jamaican organist celebrating 50 years of playing, posted, “Noel Dexter (a former musical director of University Singers who passed away last year) must be looking down proudly”.
“I live for this each Christmas,” Sheila Barrett, a retired teacher of English at Campion College proclaimed online.