01 Aug 2026 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The National Day of the French Republic (July 14) was marked in Sri Lanka with an awesome event at the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel in Colombo. Rémi Lambert, the French Ambassador, hosted the glamorous event in an atmosphere of congenial ambience, where a large number of members of the Diplomatic Corps, Government Ministers, State Officials, top representatives of the business and academic communities were present. To entertain them all, the French embassy had invited the well-renowned young male and female singers of ‘Acoustics Chorale’ to mesmerise the guests with their exquisite choral renditions of well-selected French compositions. The event commenced with the Chorale emotionally rendering the National Anthem of Sri Lanka in fine harmony, well appreciated by everyone. Then came the glorious French National Anthem, sung in elegant style and adorned with vibrant accompaniment. After the welcome address by the ambassador and a speech by Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, Minister of Health and Mass Media of Sri Lanka, glasses were raised for the evening’s toast to the occasion, embellished by Edith Piaf’s beloved Hymne à l’amour – glamorously renderedby a young female soloist, backed by a fine keyboard, cello and choral harmony. Even as the cocktail reception went into full-swing, Acoustics Chorale -- backed by some fine LED-screen visuals, went onto provide a full choral presentation in elegant style. They splendidly rendered French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour’s rousing favourite “Emmenez-moi”; the emotional crescendo of Barbara Pravi’s “Voilà;” Piaf’s immortal masterpiece “La Vie en Rose”; and capped it off with a handsome performance of “Habanera” – the riveting aria from Georges Bizet’s 1875 opéra comique, ‘Carmen’. Each song told an enchanting story -- with soloists and duo artists backed by deep-sounding bass and alto singers on the one side of the musical register and sweet resounding soprano and tenor voices on the other, all dressed in colorful attire. Indeed, the smart singers of Acoustics Chorale, trained by veteran maestroFrancis D’Almeida, made Sri Lanka proud, with their unmatched musical prowess before a group of local and international personalities.
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