‘Women in Song’ offers taste of everything at VI Showcase
Six exceptional women graced the stage at the Eileen L. Parsons Auditorium of the HLSCC as they sang songs from various genres of music including classical, pop, gospel, R&B, soca, calypso, neo-soul and even a bit of hip-hop.
The show offered a spectacular taste of everything by the featured performers last evening that included Nicole Donovan, Monique Chapdelaine aka Ca’ssandra, Ouida Nisbett, and the group Trinity (comprised of Akesha Smith, Rochelle Smith and Surbhi Williams).
President of HLSCC Dr. Karl Dawson stated previously that he is especially proud that the College, as part of the on-going series, is associated with such dynamic local talent. He noted that each performer brings diversity, uniqueness and passion for their first love “Music” and encouraged everyone to support the home grown event.
MCs for the evening, former VI Showcase performers themselves, Dalan Vanterpool and Kamau Georges kept things lively throughout the programme and introduced the performers as they came out to do a medley of sorts before starting their individual sets.
Nicole opened with a verse from the popular duet ‘When You Believe’ by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, followed by Monique who did ‘R.E.S.P.E.C.T.’ first made popular by Aretha Franklin before Ouida came out to sing ‘I Will Always Love You’ and Trinity with ‘Survivor’ by Destiny’s Child.
Nicole then came back to deliver her set of several classical renditions sung in various languages including French, German and English. She sang the Gabriel Faure inspired Après un rêve (After a dream), the ‘Black Swan’ lullaby by Jean Carlo Menotti and Gretchen am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel), a selection from Goethe’s Faust composed by Franz Schubert.
She then offered a Black History Month tribute with John Worth’s ‘Soliloquy’ after which she got the band together to accompany her in Charlotte Church’s ‘Dream a Dream’. Nicole rang out her set with the ever popular ‘The Prayer’ accompanied by Kamau and Dalan on saxophone as well as the five-member ‘Blue Essence’ band.
Ca’ssandra next graced the stage to loud applause with her powerful vocals doing Etta James’ ‘At Last’. She also sang Jill Scott’s ‘He Loves Me’, making the neo-soul staple her very own with an uptempo beat mid-way through the song that only served to display her versatility. She added Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ next and surprised the audience with the insertion of an unexpected hip hop piece during the song.
At the end of her set, Ca’ssandra sang a moving original piece titled ‘I Rise’, slated to be the first single released from her upcoming album this coming fall. The song offered empowering and uplifting lyrics and her powerful vocals in delivery resonated particularly with the women in the packed audience which resulted in her receiving a standing ovation.
The next performer, Ouida, who has drawn comparisons to Celine Dion and Whitney Houston in the past, emerged to a playful interaction with the audience doing a section of Minnie Ripperton’s ‘Loving You’. She followed this up with an eclectic and flavourful mix of songs as she manoeuvred through Alicia Keys’ ‘Girl on Fire’, Allison Hinds’ ‘Roll It Gal’ and Sarah McLachlan’s ‘Arms of an Angel’ as well as two of her own original pieces.
One of those pieces, ‘L.I.F.E. (Love Inside For Everyone)’ was done with a montage backdrop on stage and addressed a few social issues that Ouida described as being ‘dear to our hearts’. Kamau, who was instrumental in the composition of the song, offered back up on saxophone during the rendition.
Trinity, the final act for the evening, took the audience through several decades of music with the Pointer Sisters’ ‘I’m So Excited’ from the 70’s era; ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ by the Supremes, first done in the 60’s then all the way back to the 90’s with En Vogue’s ‘Don’t Let Go’.
The dynamic trio then offered ‘a taste of Trinity in Soca’ before singing the calypso ‘Die with my dignity’ by Singing Sandra and Etana’s popular and empowering reggae song, ‘I Am Not Afraid’.
The trio next offered an ‘I-Threes’ reggae tribute to Quito Rhymer who they often tour and perform with before switching effortlessly back to their roots with gospel two gospel songs.
The audience remained engaged throughout and the show which started just after 8PM didn’t end until sometime close to 11PM.
One of the audience members, Mrs Keiyia Jackson-George, described the event as a wonderful experience, a sentiment shared by Mr Carnel Smith who is the father of one of the members of the Trinity group.
The next event in the series is set for March 16, 2013 and will feature David Rudder as one of the headline acts.
.png)
Follow Us On
9 Responses to “‘Women in Song’ offers taste of everything at VI Showcase”