Sisters Put On A Memorable Concert




ONE cannot help but feel a deep sense of nostalgia when hearing your favourite Christmas songs.
And this was exactly what the audience at Naparima Bowl, San Fernando experienced recently with "Christmas Favourites" featuring sisters Jill-Ann Walters and Josanne Walters-Joseph.
 
Coming from a well-known musical family in San Fernando, expectations were high. But the sisters met those with style.
 
Jill-Ann holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Musical Arts from the University of the West Indies (UWI) and is currently pursuing a post graduate degree in Cultural Studies at the same institution. For this, she is researching local calypso/jazz fusions.
 
Josanne, a Trinidad and Tobago Music Festival Championship winner in the Vocal Solo and Operatic Aria classes, is presently pursuing a degree in Psychology. She has a keen interest in the use of music in the development of children.

The various elements of the concert were narrated through "Old Man Pa" played by Carl Spencer whose memories were brought to life on stage by Jill-Ann, Josanne and a host of other young talented artistes.
 
The concert opened with Jill-Ann, an accomplished vocalist and keyboardist, singing the traditional "O Come O Come Emmanuel".
 
She was then joined by Josanne, accompanied on guitar by their brother David, to do "Ave Maria" followed by "Oh Holy Night" accompanied on piano by Vanessa Marcus.
 
"Rio by Night" and "Valse Venezolano No 3" was expertly delivered by guitarist Chryston Floyd who has several Trinidad and Tobago Music Festival awards to his name.
 
During the course of the evening, the sisters were joined by their own children, their mother Helen - also a singer, and their father Anthony on guitar and other brother Michael on pan.
 
Some parang also made its way into the programme with "One Christmas Eve", "Feliz Navidad", "Ola de la Mar" and "Allegria" being well received by the appreciative crowd.
 
While there was no shortage of high quality talent, the show's pitfalls were mainly due to the technical aspects.
The sound quality was inconsistent and the lighting seemed a bit gloomy.
This however, did not devalue the production to the extent that it affected the entertainment value.

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