Lisbon Chamber Choir At Renaissance Hotel Melaka

Early last month, we were informed of a concert of the Lisbon Chamber Choir held at Renaissance Hotel to raise fund for the newly opened Christian Cultural Museum in Melaka. The tickets were priced at RM50, RM70 and RM100 and on sale in churches. Being used to occasional free concerts of international artists at CLA, I hesitated to take out my money to pay for the entrance which I could actually afford.

For weeks, I could not make up my mind. But I kept remembering my comment that Melaka lacked of cultural events. Now when there was one, I was not supportive. The thought of claiming to love Jesus without being willing to give financially to His Kingdom put me into shame. So the last Sunday before the concert, I finally bought a ticket for myself.

On Thursday 30 July morning, I put a dress for the concert inside my car as I did not plan to go home after work. In the afternoon, I met Diana at Agape Care Centre who needed technical help for the preparation of the opening of another centre for the elderly. I was in my working clothes and she in her T-shirt and jeans. She kindly offered me to take a shower at her house but I preferred to stay in town because her house was quite far. Later, SH invited me to have dinner with her and her three children at a nearby food stall. When we finished eating, it was time I left for the hotel. Not having extra time to properly dress up myself, I decided to at least change my clothes at a petrol station toilet within five minutes.

I turned up punctually at the venue and was early enough to pick my own seat among those at the back as my ticket was the cheapest. The concert was scheduled at 7.30pm but was going to start only in half an hour. After a prayer by a priest, an opening speech by the committee chairman

and a piece of music by a local pianist,

about twenty members of the Lisbon Chamber Choir led by the Filipino conductor came on stage.

They performed a cappella or in collaboration with instrument ensembles.

Their songs, ranged from Renaissance to the 21st century, included sacred, contemporary songs and Broadway musicals.

During a short break, I saw Diana who looked elegant in her white attire and other familiar faces from CLA and my MLM class.

When we returned to our seats, the Choir continued to sing in Portuguese, Spanish, German, English and even Mandarin! For the Melaka concert, these young musicians specially performed a Portuguese folk song and a Malay song, which pleased the audience a lot and received in return the standing ovation.

I knew some of the songs. But when they were sung in a cappella, it was a totally new experience to me. I enjoyed the whole live performance that evening and really appreciated the effort of the Melaka Christianity and Culture Research Centre (MCCRC) to bring the world class concert by Christian performers to this historical city.