Sing to the LORD a new song; Sing to the LORD, all the earth. (Psalm 96:1)
Fr. Sunny Memorial Church Choir Competition, which was held on 25th August, 2017, at YashwantRao Chavan Natya Auditorium, Matunga (w), became the most memorable day when the Heaven rejoiced and sang hymns with Kalyan Diocese. The energetic faithful celebrated the Silver Jubilee of the competition by marking each moment as a glorious one through their presence and participation. The teams sang to glorify the Lord’s name and the hymns were raised up to Heaven where the angels joined to sing for the Lord Almighty. Fr. George Vattamattam, youth director of Kalyan Eparchy Youth, welcomed the chief dignitaries and the faithful to the competition. The very well arranged and decorated huge auditorium witnessed the magic of music on that day.
The 37 teams with more than 1300 participants gave their best in their performance and reached out to the audience through the love in their music. After the competition, the dance performed by the youth sought the attention and energy of the vibrant crowd. Thereafter, the celebrity judge Cicily Abraham presented her testimonial story through which she tasted the love of God that changed her life to sing for the Lord Almighty and sang beautiful Christian songs on the stage with an elegance that made the audience sing along with her. Soon after, Mr. Manoj George, Grammy award winner became the limelight of the event, who made the audience sing and dance along the wonderful tunes he played his violin. The aura of music never left the auditorium and the vibe kept rounding the corners. At the end of the event, Msgr. Emmanuel Kaadankavil, Vicar-general of Kalyan Diocese, remarked that “The 25th year of Fr. Sunny Memorial Church Choir Competition makes us feel the growing unity and love among the faithful of Kalyan Diocese, let this competition grow and unite the coming generation to glorify the Lord.” All the dignitaries on the dice appreciated the hard works of DEXCOs and the youth who helped to make the competition such a big hit.
Every team, which participated, had already won the hearts of the thousands who were gathered in the auditorium and so the awards were just considered as a form of motivation but the awards really did inspire the other teams to come up with much more amazing music next year. St. Theresa Church, Kandivali West, won the first prize, Sacred Heart Church, Goregaon (W), won the second prize, the third prize was won by Little Flower Church, Nerul, fourth prize won by Mary Matha Church, Sakinaka and St. Alphonsa Church, Mankhurd, won the fifth prize. Fr. Sinto Pulikkotil, assistant director of Kalyan Eparchy Youth expressed his cheerful gratitude through a vote of thanks. Fr. Michael Aanikuzhikattil, brother of Fr. Sunny, was the chief guest for this competition. Hats off to all the intellectual minds and dedicated hard workers who worked tirelessly to make the Silver Jubilee of Fr. Sunny Memorial Church Choir Competition an unforgettable event.
