THE 25-member strong National Chorale of Jamaica (NCOJ) will raise their voices in praise and thanksgiving, remembering the lives lost so far due to the current novel coronavirus pandemic and providing some measure of comfort and compassion for the families who grieve for their loved ones.

The choir will host a virtual church service and candle-lighting ceremony under the theme ‘Celebrating the Resilience and Unity of the Human Spirit’. This is scheduled to take place at St Theresa Roman Catholic Church in Vineyard Town, St Andrew, on Wednesday, August 4 starting at 4:00 pm. Leading the candle-lighting segment of the service will be the Governor General of Jamaica Sir Patrick Allen, supported by custodes from the 14 parishes who will also light candles in memory of persons who died in communities across the country.

The programme of musical selections and readings, compiled by NCOJ’s musical director Winston Ewart, will include Walter B Gilbert’s Pleasant are Thy Courts Above. It will also feature Christine MacDonald, musical director of the Jamaican Folk Singers, who will perform Henry Purcell’s When I am laid in Earth. The chorale will be joined by students from the Central Branch, Excelsior, and Jessie Ripoll Primary schools in performing What Sweeter Music and Look At the World.

“The magnitude of grief and devastation which the [novel coronavirus] pandemic has created and continues to create in the lives of families is difficult to describe in words, and sometimes we feel a sense of helplessness whenever we try to express and give support in a surreal experience such as this one. This has impelled members of the NCOJ to unite as a family and to extend our own hands of love and compassion in the way we know best — in the beauty of our voices in songs of everlasting praise,” stated Christopher Samuda, chairman of the NCOJ.

The National Chorale of Jamaica was founded in 1972 to promote, maintain and conduct a chorale group to perform chorale music at the highest level of excellence and to bridge the gap in musical presentations in Jamaica. Through programmes which include the widest variety of music, the chorale has found a place in the musical literature of the country over the years.