BAHAMIAN DIPLOMATS HOST RECEPTION FOR BEL CANTO SINGERS BAHAMAS

By ELISABETH ANN BROWN

At the reception held for the Bel Canto Singers Bahamas at the St. Regis Hotel Friday evening, members of the group are pictured with Ambassador Sidney Collie (center) and Consul General Theo Neilly (fifth from right). Pictured between the Ambassador and Consul General is Eldridge McPhee, Bel Canto Singers Bahamas Founder and Director. (Photo by Elisabeth Ann Brown/BAHAMAS CHRONICLE)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Scores of Bahamians in the Washington, D.C. area diaspora were joined by a cross-section diplomats, business persons and friends of The Bahamas at a reception hosted by His Excellency Sidney Collie, Bahamas Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American State (OAS), and His Excellency Theo Neilly, Bahamas Consul General to Washington, D.C., for the Bel Canto Singers Bahamas at the St. Regis Hotel in downtown D.C. on Friday evening, June 1, 2018.

Thirty-one members of the 41-member group are in D.C. for a concert at 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 3, at historic Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, 1518 M Street, N.W. in commemoration of the church’s 180^th anniversary. The group will also participate in the church’s 10 a.m. regular service.

Guests at the reception got a preview of what those attending the concert will be treated to when the group performed a selection of their repertoire, including sensational performances by feature singers Louis Cleare and Anatchas Hart, singing “Fix Me Jesus,” and Edris Cunningham , who sang “My Soul Has Been Anchored in the Lord,” backed by the entire group. Bel Canto performed four pieces a cappella.

Ambassador Collie and Consul General Neilly both delivered brief remarks and Eldridge McPhee, Bel Canto Singers’ Founder and Director, gave a brief history of the group, which recently commenced its 13th season in Nassau with a weekend of celebrations that included a Champagne Dinner and Dance at the Balmoral Club on Thursday, May 17, followed by a grand concert on Saturday, May 19, at Christ Church Cathedral.

During their concert at Metropolitan A.M.E., Eldridge McPhee, Bel Canto Singers’ Founder and Director, said in an earlier press release that the singers “will be accompanied by seven string players from the Washington DC area, with notable brass and percussion players from Nassau.”

He noted that the group’s performance will include “spirituals and contemporary Christian compositions by Craig Courtney, Hal Johnson, Roland Carter and Moses Hogan.”

“The Singers are delighted to present two of Evelyn Simpson-Curenton’s pieces composed and arranged by her for Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle,” McPhee said. “Mrs. Simpson-Curenton is well known to music circles in the Washington DC area. The Singers will present three Latin pieces: Edward Elgar’s Lux Aeterna, Stanton’s Beati Qurum Via and Ola Gjeiloeces; Edward Elgar’s Lux Aeterna, Stanton’s Beati Qurum Via and Ola Gjeilo.”