FILM Adjudicator recounts experience in Awka

My experience in FILM festival 2015.

First of all I'm grateful to God for life, sound health of mind and body and the grace to sit and listen to 18 schools render 72 (seventy two) pieces which include one Latin piece and 56 fresh cooked liturgical songs. This year's festival was so on point and I'm proud to be part of it. The choirs were good in different aspects as they delivered their songs just as the composers have written. It's going to be a difficult task ahead (was my thought) as the first two choirs finished their Latin entry and a tough task it remained.

The choirs even made it tougher for me the second day, third day and the fourth day as always was "the bomb".

OBSERVATIONS

Although all the choirs were good, there are little observations I must point out which must be looked into. They include:

* soloist going off from the key of the songs especially in motets 1and 2 while some weren't heard at all
* some choirs shouting and going off
* some languages were loosing its tonality and meaning in motet 2
* some of the songs were out of comfort zone for the choir as there were too many chromatic  notes to deal with.

The choirs that had these challenges did well generally here and there and I must commend the composers, trainers and singers for contributing to the growth of liturgical music in the Holy Roman Catholic Church and the parishioners for their support.

FILM has come to stay and I would love to see even catholic secondary students participate in this festival in other to catch them even younger.  I hope to see greater number of schools in attendance in the next festival coming up in Owerri in 2017.

In conclusion, I must thank the immediate past National executive headed by the national coordinator, Mr Anthony Okoro for giving me the opportunity to be one of the adjudicators in this 2015 festival, I say thank you.

Awka 2015 "THE BOMB"

Thank you and God bless.

Miss Ajuruchi Stellamaris Chikodi.