Hundreds turn out to ‘In the Spirit of Christmas’
By VonDez Phipps
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – HUNDREDS blocked the streets surrounding the Circus last night (Dec. 8) as they celebrated the opening of the 2008 edition of ‘In the Spirit of Christmas’. The event, organized by the Ministry of Culture and sponsored by UTS Chippie, had a wide array of cultural and artistic performances to remind the general public of the real meaning of Christmas.
The gathering was awakened by classic Yule-tide carols and gospel medleys performed by the Jingle Bells String Band, creating an atmosphere of days of Christmases past. The small group of skilled musicians caused more than just the tapping of feet with their melodic renditions as young and old clapped and gyrated to the more up-tempo tunes.
The National Youth Drum Corps, led by drummer-extraordinaire Royd Phipps kept the excitement alive with its rhythmic performances, striking a pulsing sensation throughout the crowd. Renowned trumpeter Nigel Williams played along to carols and old local Christmas songs inviting the audience to dance and clap to the electric sounds of a Kittitian-flavoured Christmas.
Smartly dressed members of Her Majesty’s Prison Chorale also contributed to the festive event, stirring the crowd’s interest with their first rendition ‘He’s different from the rest’. The guitar and drum accompanied their second selection ‘Jah watch over us’, a song composed by Guishard Nisbett of Tabernacle. The group of inmates closed their performance with a short recount of Christ’s birth, and expressed that even in their “unfavourable circumstance” they were still interested in sharing the Christmas feeling. ~~Adz:Right~~
Master saxophonists Alex Condell and Gavin Charles wooed the audience by blaring out a number of original compositions as well as adding their own style to some contemporary pieces.
The Stanley Amory Memorial Choir of the St. Kitts-Nevis Social Security Board added a twist to the programme and gave a classy polish to the event with its ‘Now Behold the Lamb’ tune. The choir of about 20 received roaring applause and a request for an encore performance.
The programme also saw outstanding performances by Jade Orchid, singing ‘This Little Child’ and ‘Rise Again’ along with Denville Francis rendering the song ‘Now Behold the Lamb’.
The kittle and big drum performances was just what it needed to get all the infants and toddlers stage-front to prance about in their own little way, mimicking the masqueraders. The old songs played by Creighton Pencheon on the guitar, Royd Phipps on drums and Nigel Williams on trumpet sparked interest in the audience and caused the young and old to dance together, rekindling the old Christmas spirit.
Steel-pan champions Pantastic brought the house down with its mixture of fast and slow paced Christmas medleys.
The event continues tonight (Dec. 9) with performances by a number of church organizations including the Antioch Baptist Church Choir. Contrary to the previously stated programme line-up, Thursday night’s event will feature the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College Choral Ensemble making its second presentation of ‘Beyond Bethlehem’.
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