But this is exactly what show choir, which combines choral singing with stylised choreography, is all about.
It makes the performance of Cempaka Performing Arts Company’s (CPAC) Vocal Pizzest Show Choir at the recent “Sing for Gold” competition particularly impressive. The event by Interkultur, an organisation that has held international choir competitions and festivals for over three decades, was held in Calella, Spain from Oct 24-28.
The team, which consisted of 18 students from Cempaka International School in Damansara Heights and Cempaka Cheras National School, bagged gold medals in the “children’s choirs” and “pop, jazz and gospel” categories.
CPAC chief executive officer Andrew Chan shared that this marked the group’s first international competition. “We were the only team from Southeast Asia. Other Asian teams were Korea and Iran,” he told FMT Lifestyle.
Some 51 groups took part in the competition, including participants from the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico and Peru. CPAC’s team, which comprised students aged 10 on average, were the youngest.
Choir director Melinda Sik shared that they performed a medley of Malaysian folk songs such as “Wau Bulan”, “Lenggang Kangkung” and “Rasa Sayang” for the “children’s choirs” category.
“We chose these songs as we believe it’s a good way to share Malaysian culture. They are also very easy and catchy, and we wanted the students to enjoy performing them,” she said.
For the same category, they also performed a medley from “Alice’s Wonderland”, CPAC’s first original musical that was staged in 2017. The songs were crafted by local composer Nick Choo, a multiple BOH Cameronian Arts Awards winner and nominee.
For the “pop, jazz and gospel” category, the team presented a medley of songs from “Spooks”, another original CPAC musical that was staged last year. These songs were also composed by Choo.
All the songs were performed either a cappella or with a piano accompaniment, played by Melody Wan, the head of performing arts at Cempaka International School.
Despite the long flight that took them almost 20 hours and only arriving the day before the event, the students shone.
“Their performance was the best I’ve seen. Perhaps there was a feeling of wanting to win that brought them together, and everyone played a part,” said Sik.
Working in harmony
Among the young performers is Kimberly Chan. The 10-year-old is no stranger to performing, having tackled the lead role of Ariel in CPAC’s production of “The Little Mermaid”, in addition to recording songs and videos with her father Andrew for their Daddy Daughter Duo act.
Kimberly shared that the experience of competing in Spain has been invaluable as she learnt how to blend her voice with the others, and how to sing without the support of additional instruments.
“I also made new friends from Lithuania, Zimbabwe, Mexico and Peru,” she said with a smile.
Her teammate Mawar Mikaila Mohd Omar added that, despite feeling slightly jittery, she loved the experience of performing as a group.
“I felt really proud to represent Malaysia as we were the only ones from Southeast Asia,” the 11-year-old said.
A similar sentiment was echoed by Layla Sakeenah Anwar, also 11. “I felt slightly nervous but overcame it by believing we could win as we sounded good, and our songs were really catchy.
“Through being in a show choir, I’ve learnt that everyone must work hard to get their parts right. We have to sing in a way that does not drown out others. It taught me the importance of working together.”
Learn more about Cempaka Performing Arts Company here.