Milestone - AGAPELLA Begins Recording

The Lord has done great things for us whereof, we are glad! Some have harboured a five-year-old vision and an ambition to one day work on a CD recording since Agapella came to be in 2002. And this past weekend, we physically took that first step towards realising a dream. Agapella set foot into Loft Studios for our first ever professional recording outside of "Shermattic" (i.e. Sherman's attic) last Saturday.

The excitement and chatter of plans to work on our debut album became more audible towards the latter half of last year. The earnestness and energy was evident. But what was equally evident was that it wasn't going to take a few bucks to keep the dream alive. Who would fund it? Do we have the financial resources? Were we able to commit to the intensity of rehearsals and recording sessions? Lots of aspirations coupled with lots of questions.

God in His time addressed some of our concerns in the most unlikely of circumstances. It was Christmas not too many months ago and it another God-given gig opportunity. One December night at the Biopolis, we were not alerted to the fact that we had a prominent business leader in the audience. After Agapella got off stage and tucked into dinner courtesy of our hosts, this man came up to us and told us how blessed he was by the songs and skits (yes, we have great actors among us too! PTL!). He shared that he'd help us fund an album if we were producing one. That, you could say got the ball rolling and we were all bowled over by God's amazing provision of that man, who roped two other compatriots of his to co-invest in the funding of the project. Why would two strangers want to part with hard-earned money on a group? And might we add that they've never heard of us nor heard us sing? Behind the missing pieces, we know God's at work. He never fails to amaze and provide at the right time and throught the right people.

Another piece fit the jigsaw. Late last year, Agapella got up close with M-Pact from the US at two of their gigs (one a paid concert) and with them was our very own Clement Chow. I never got to ask him what involvement he had with M-Pact but he was working with them during their concerts here. Next thing you know, Clement who's a recording artiste and performer in his own right, was spending precious time with us divulging the right practices and steps we have to take to get the project up and running. And voila! Agapella is in the thick of recording!

Most apt was the first song we've recorded - "What Can I Give Him?" Singly and collectively, we don't have much assets nor accomplishements to shout about. But what can we give him? We want to give him our heart through this project and even beyond its completion.

So come Christmas, we pray we'll have a nice spread of pieces for you to take away, all masterfully recorded and bottled in a CD.