The festive season commenced in spectacular fashion at St. Augustine’s Chapel on Kingston College’s North Street Campus last Sunday, as the renowned Kingston College Chapel Choir (KCCC) delivered a breathtaking Christmas concert that perfectly captured the spirit of ‘Tidings of Comfort & Joy’.
Under the masterful direction of Choirmaster Audley Davidson, the 35-strong choir, adorned in purple vests and bow ties, opened the 17-piece program with a powerful rendition of Franz Joseph Haydn’s storied ‘Te Deum in C.’ This canticle of praise, composed around 1799, featured two ebullient outer sections contrasting with a serene middle, leaving the audience in awe and responding with thunderous, continuous applause upon its 15-minute conclusion.
The musical feast seamlessly blended classical masterpieces with modern compositions and works by local Jamaican talents. The program featured Clyde Hoyte’s ‘O’er our Blue Mountain,’ delivered by soloist Matthew Hylton, Andrew Marshall’s ‘Fanfare’ introduction to ‘Hark The Herald Angels Sing,’ Noel Dexter’s ‘Sing de Chorus,’ and Richard Beckford’s ‘Joy,’ a piece dedicated to the KCCC this past September.
Highlights included an exquisitely controlled performance of John Rutter’s ‘Angel Carol,’ where the choir’s underparts created beautiful harmonic support. The recently restored chapel pipe organ, played by Livingston Burnett, made a triumphant debut with ‘Fanfare for Christmas,’ filling the sacred space with familiar carols that had attendees tapping their feet. The organ featured again in the lullaby-esque ‘Infant Holy, Infant Lowly,’ with the gentlemen of the choir showing distinct attention to conductor Davidson.
The evening also served a charitable purpose. Emcee Karnette Batchelor Evering engaged the audience, rallying support for relief efforts for St. Hilda’s Diocesan High School in the wake of Hurricane Melissa. She led the entire audience in a fun-loving singalong of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ and ‘Hark The Herald Angels Sing.’
The concert culminated with the stirring ‘The Sounds of His Love’ by Don Marsh, providing a fitting climax to an evening that celebrated the school’s centenary. The performance was not merely a concert but a profound community event, attended by dignitaries including former Governor General Sir Kenneth Hall and the Lord Bishop of Jamaica, offering a moment of shared joy and comfort through the universal language of glorious music.