Ankita Mukherjee By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Christmas is all about happiness and the Festival Choristers gave a feel of Christmas Eve way before the ‘the day’. The concert held at Ravindra Bharathi was witnessed by over 150 attendees from all across the world–Russia, UK, India and other countries. Each and every person seated there encouraged and cheered for the performers. The Festival Choristers started their journey from the year 2016, this is their 14th show. They bear their own funding. This is the brain child of Rachel Chatterjee, Aruna Bahuguna, and Dalphe de Rebello. Since last year, Deepti Raj has been conducting the concerts. They say that they are an ecumenical group of singers and instrumentalists drawn from different faiths, walks of life and ages. They spread love, peace, harmony through the musicals and they prepare the concert every year for the music lovers of the twin cities. The concert started off with the Junior Choristers conducted by Ranjit Mathew and Vina Kurian. They sang three songs. One with rhyming words and one with yodelling. Then the Festival Choristers took over the stage, conducted by Dr. Rev Sushil Pakyanadhan whose accompanist was Dr. Cecil Naveen Elias. They sang carols, classical, and other songs of different languages like English, Latin, French, Telugu, and Bhojpuri. The event ended with the song Messiah Christmas Suits on demand of the audience. One lady from the audience who was lip syncing with some of the songs, came all the way from Russia. She said, “This is my first time I came over here and I came only because of the concert.” Chinoy, who was really cheering the performers and was singing out loud with some of the songs said, “I used to come every year at the initial time. Then I took a break but I started coming again from last year or so. The carols and songs have changed a lot with due course of time and it is a little difficult for me to fit in with these songs.” At the end, the Festival Choristers sang, “We wish you a Merry Christmas” and every person there sang along with them with great applaud.

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