Maja and Eugeniusz Kędziora with the Tęcza (Rainbow) Choir. |
Colorful afternoon light, spilling through stained glass, created the ideal backdrop for an equally colourful night of music.
The 21st Carols Evening was held yesterday at the Our Lady of Czestochowa Church in Marayong. The sweltering heat seemed to bother neither artists nor an appreciative audience.
Bożena Szymańska and Jolanta Komincz of the ensemble Razem (Together) hosted the evening. Besides introducing artists, the pair performed renditions of Oh Holy Night and the Polish carols Gdy śliczna panna syna kołysała (When the Beautiful Lady Cradled Her Son) and Nie zapomnijmy tego dziecinnie bezbronnego (Let Us Not Forget This Defenceless Child).
A younger generation of Polish singers featured prominently throughout the evening. Five-year-old Amelia Gnatek and six-year-old Olga Kryj-Bednarski performed traditional Polish ‘pastorałki’ (Christmas folk songs), delighting listeners along with trio Alicja Polak, her sister and a friend, as well as fourteen-year-old Olivia Kierdal, who sang and played the piano.
Alex Agaciak. |
The loudest applause, however, was reserved for thirteen-year-old Alex Agaciak, who performed Do szopy, hej do szopy (To the Barn, Hey to the Barn) on his trumpet and Silent Night on his saxophone.
Other musical numbers included Polish carols sung by soprano Halina Gad, the choir Tęcza (Rainbow), sister Monika Bury (playing the guitar) and couple Maja and Eugeniusz Kędziora. The latter gave their performance special weight.
“This song is dedicated to all those who had one person more at their table last year, and one person less at their table this year,” said Eugeniusz, before singing Taka cicha noc (Such a Silent Night).
Father Anthony Dudek closed the evening, thanking organisers, performers and the attentive audience. For Father Dudek, the evening had been „beautiful, and as different as every other”.
Photographs by Tomasz Swiatek
See the Photo Gallery for more photographs of the evening.
Published December 29, 2008 | 
