Seychelles National Choir members call on President Ramkalawan |26 November 2021

Members of the choir in a souvenir photograph with President Ramkalawan (Photo: Thomas Meriton)

Five members of the Seychelles National Choir paid a courtesy visit on President Wavel Ramkalawan at State House yesterday morning.

The National Choir itself comprises 35 members and is led by conductor Xiaoju Lownam. Its five member representatives who met with President Ramkalawan yesterday discussed with the head of state their interest in partaking in the 2020 Dubai expo next year, with the aim of showcasing traditional music and putting the choir on the map.

They also conveyed to the President the various challenges that the choir is facing.

Member Terrence Gomme says the exchange was very positive with President Ramkalawan pledging his support for the choir and its efforts to venture outside to a much larger audience.

“For the time being we have a plan to showcase at the 2020 Expo in Dubai because as a choir we already have some traditional pieces on which we have been working and it would be perfect to promote these  to the world  and get some exposure. This is our main aim for next year as we already have a repertoire  as we produced an album of local, traditional music back in 2013, so we already have the baggage. Now it is just a matter of showcasing it to the world and making it known that Seychelles, as a small country can produce high-quality choirs,” Mr Gomme said.

“The President gave us his commitment and he was very positive, giving us the guarantee that he can support the choir by addressing some of the issues we are facing.”

With the pandemic, members have had to reorganise their rehearsal sessions into smaller groups twice a week in order to uphold health and safety measures in place.

Laura Pillay