Indian musicians win accolades, delight many at major music event in UK
Aroha Junior Choir comprising students from Shillong and bhangra singers from the UK and Punjab drew much applause as they were adjudged winners at a major international music festival in Wales that draws performers from around the world.
The Shillong-based choir won the top marks (91) in the “International A Capella Group” category of Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod on Friday, scoring over groups from Wales, the US, England and Canada.
A Capella is a form of music performed solo or by a group without any instrumental accompaniment. The 12 singers in the Aroha Junior Choir performed the Disney Fly Medley, a combination of the songs You Can Fly and When I See An Elephant Fly, and One Day I’ll Fly Away, a song made famous by Randy Crawford, said a delighted Pauline Warjri, who founded the choir and conducted the performance at the festival.
The choir has students from different schools, communities and churches of Shillong, with a repertoire ranging from gospel to classical music, folk music of India and of diverse nationalities, regions and cultures, secular works, and contemporary popular and jazz songs. The two bhangra groups that won the first and second spots in the “Choreographed/Stylised Folk Dance Group” category were Gabhru Punjab De and Real Folk Cultural International Academy of Ludhiana.
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