A noted author once said, "Where painting isweakest, namely, in the expression of the highest moral and spiritual ideas, there music is sublimely strong." This may invite sharp reactions from artists, but the mesmerized audience at the Fruits of the Spirit" charity concert on May 18 could not have agreed more as it transformed their otherwise ordinary Fridays into a night of enchanted music in just two hours.
The enchantment began at around 7 p.m. when a number of people flocked to the Franciscan Chapel Center (FCC) in Tokyo's Ropponggi district. Children,students, professionals, sisters, and regular churchgoers found themselves glued to their seats, "as the curtain , of course, figuratively " unfolded to a whirlwind spectacle of voices -- with the youthful and soothing voices of the Seisen Choir taking the opening act.
The act of the professional Tokyo Y's String Quartet Ensemble was also an entreating performance, as they shuttled back and forth from an Enya-like world to the world of the Mask of Zoro. For those classical lovers, it was definitely something to relish. But if there is something that came out as more than relishing was arguably the so-called "synergy" released by the Fruits of the Spirit vocal group which comprised of jazz singer Charito, and professional singers in their own rights Rex, Mayumi, Emiko and May. I say "synergy" and it may sound rather scientific..with its definition "cooperative interaction among groups that creates an enhanced combined effect" but this basically sums up what I personally felt here. Their performance was what I would say "chicken soup for the soul" - through ballads, upbeat songs, and accappella.I may not be a mind reader but I could surely read through the eyes and looks of the people. As the angel of music gently knocked into the doors of their heart, listeners wore expressions of delight and nostalgia. With the melodies fluctuating from those in the brink of sentimentalism to those at the edge of vivacity and even tension, the audience was shaken every bit through different emotionally charged scenes.
Could it have been the choice of the songs? The rendition? The delivery? Or the atmosphere? Could be, and maybe more....these alone could not have simply touched the people. People might as well pay for something higher, but not all can be paid. Especially not the kind of music people heard that Friday. More than anything else, I felt the Fruits of the Spirits vocal group allowed me to peer into a frontier of boundless possibilities, and with it, those abstract sentiments of love, faith, peace...and yes, hope. Hope is something that we often take more granted, but is increasingly becoming in demand, amid widespread violence, insanity, suicide and whatnot. And it is precisely this HOPE that the group"s music seems to feed into our soul consciously or otherwise.
And how else more fitting can the charity concert end with the rendition of the Jubilee Song, a song that most Catholics and Filipinos know by heart. Just by that one song, the message of the charity concert organized by the newly formed Because We Care Foundation seemed to cut through. No need of pictures or repeated publicity talk for the concert's objective or its beneficiary, the disabled children of Elsie Gaches Village in Manila.
Where the visual medium stops, the invisible train of notes carries over to take all those willing to listen and open their hearts to a world of possibilities. And that is an unspoken message that Charito and her group has conveyed that night to their listeners, music is not only chicken soup for one's soul, or a select few; it is for all those willing and accepting hearts, as well as those obstinate and hardened hearts, with undying hopes that at one point, somehow, somewhere, sometime, they will be touched by the music.
Creating great music may be easy, but I should say creating music to convey that "we care" is a doubly cumbersome task as it is not about aesthetics or technique, but finding the key to unlock the hearts of the people.
For some, it may appear an exaggeration to say that the charity concert did just that. But I would rather be accused of exaggeration than understatement, because as far as I and those faces I have observed within my sight are concerned, we felt that passion, that dedication and care for a greater cause, a cause that went beyond the merits of creating simply a good music, because so long as the people care, music will always keep on going to greater heights.
And I can bet my life's worth that the Fruits of the Spirit group did just that.