Soundarie David Rodrigo

Today on the Buzz I speak to Soundarie about a mission to take our Sri Lankan talent to the World Choir Games. Recently the Soul Sounds Academy had a concert to raise funds so that they can participate at the 12th Bali International Choir Festival. If you would like to contribute, you can always reach out to the Academy.  Here is my little chat with Soundarie.

choir game culture is something that you created in Sri Lanka. how do you feel about the Soul Sounds Academy being represented in 2023?

So yes , the then Holy Family Convent Senior Choir under my direction was the first choir in Sri Lanka to compete internationally in 2004 at the Llangollen International Musical Eistedfodd in Wales and were placed first runner-up in the Youth Choir category- this set the trend for not just us and Soul Sounds to compete at other competitions including the World Choir Games in China, Austria and tour the world - but  choirs such as the Revelations and Voice Print. A few  school choirs also competed and did extremely well. Nearly 20 years later we see that the Soul Sounds Academy Choir is competing and it gives me much joy, because there has always been so much talent in Sri Lanka. I’m glad that we continue to challenge ourselves, especially in difficult circumstances, not to mention that 20 years later where standards are so much higher!
You were recently made an honourary member of the world choir council. Tell me about that. 

I have been in the World Choir Council - which is the highest level of music experts from all over the world since 2010. Again it was the first time Sri Lanka marked their presence in the Council.  So being acknowledged and appreciated for over 12 years of service for choral music feels good but that being said, for me music has been always about my love for music and wanting to showcase Sri Lanka to the world. The greater reward is in the many performances and the music itself.
Have things changed in the past few years in making it harder to do crowd funding?

Well ideally it should have changed for the better, but sadly and unfortunately for Sri Lanka it’s gotten harder with the financial crisis and companies not willing to come forward with sponsorships. But that being said whilst raising funds has been hard, I am grateful to all who eventually did have faith in us and came forward to help us raise funds.
Tell me about the Soul Sounds academy choir, as it is the first time you are taking male Vocalists with you for this competition?

The Soul Sounds Academy Choir is a mixed choir, so yes, males too. But they consist of the senior-most students at the Academy. They’ve worked very hard and over the last year have focussed on many performances and new repertoire. Of course they don’t have the 20 year experience like the female choir of Soul Sounds, but like they did 20 years ago,  I would like to call this my launch of the mixed choir. A lot to learn more to experience but it’s a start. And I’m proud of all they’ve achieved thus far. Two solo voices 11 year old Rakitha Widyapathige and Shenuk Wijesinghe will also be entering the solo category and competing internationally at the same competition.
Tell me about the experiences judging international choirs.

My experience judging has always been refreshing and rejuvenating because you get to hear some of the best choirs from all around the world. So it’s also a learning and sharing experience. Also judging with experts from all over the world, sharing knowledge, exchanging notes, learning from different cultures, this time around especially in Korea, has been truly amazing. Standards were high. Much higher than what it was 20 years ago… so we can only learn and hope Sri Lanka does well. We certainly have talent.
As you are representing Srilanka At the world choir games, were you able to speak to the government in supporting this? And have they supported in the past when you have taken Sri Lanka to the world with such competitions? 

Well I’m not sure if now is the right time to ask the government for help to support the arts given the financial crisis. Help from the government for such projects has been very rare and I sincerely hope this changes not just to help us but all others who might want to attempt to compete and bring Sri Lanka to the world stage.