Showcasing a 100 year old tradition

The Royal College Choir from Sri Lanka, established in 1919, is one of the oldest school choirs in the country and part of the living history of the prestigious Royal College, Colombo.

The choir’s biggest success so far was winning the Meaden Shield Competition, which was one of the most coveted musical competitions at the time, 10 years in a row in the early 1920s. Nowadays the choir sings at numerous events every year but especially the annual Carol Service has been a constant that has kept choral music vibrant among students from many religious and ethnic backgrounds. Furthermore the annual ‘Royal College Festival of Choirs’, organized primarily by the students, has boosted the academic choral music scene in Colombo for almost twenty-five years, being the country’s first and only annual multi-collegiate choral event.

The Royal College Choir has sung a wide variety of musical genres originating from a range of local and foreign cultural backgrounds. Its conductress Sureka Amerasinghe helped to establish the group on a voluntary basis over a period of a decade and also created many choral arrangements music pieces for the Royal College Choir over the years, giving students the opportunity to bring out their strengths and help maximize their enthusiasm for music.

These efforts reflect in their performances which will be a highlight at the World Choir Games 2018 in South Africa. In Tshwane the singers will perform in three categories altogether: Mixed Youth Choirs, Pop and Folklore. Last year they already won gold at another INTERKULTUR event, the Asia Pacific Choir Games 2017 in their home country Sri Lanka and they are now eager to repeat their success story.

Listening to a historic choir is on your choral bucket list? Then check out the World Choir Games 2018 official website for more details or follow the event on Facebook!