CHENNAI: An amalgamation of 565 voices singing in unison to ‘oh palanhare’ from the 2001 blockbuster Lagaan welcomed us when we entered the auditorium at Bala Vidya Mandir, Adyar.
An excited bunch of audience both young and old, accompanying senior musicians, instrumentalists and an auditorium echoing with a global rendition of music is what the campus witnessed at the Global Rhythm Concert. Organised as part of the LEAP project by the school, the performance brought together students from classes six to eight on one stage.
Introducing the students to global languages using music as a medium, the training had spread across seven months. At the end of the concert, mentors will pick students (who can make it to the professional circuit) for further training.
The students were trained under Srinivas Krishnan from Ohio University and performed 40 songs in various languages including Bengali, Marathi, Sindhi, Punjabi, French, German, Portugese, Tamil, and Urdu. Talking about the process of opening up to new music, Raksha, a Class 8 student said enthusiastically, “To spend over an hour, twice a week to rehearse and learn new songs, songs which we probably wouldn’t learn on a daily basis has expanded our horizon. We also have famous musicians here to see us perform today!”
While Ambaa, another eighth grader, confessed, “We thought it was going to be boring. As they began teaching us new songs in different languages including Portuguese and German, our curiosity and craving to learn increased. Our parents were equally thrilled!”
While this may have been the first step for many young singers on stage, for many like 13-year-old Vagesh, a student of BVM, this concert has paved the way for him to dream of becoming a professional singer some day. “Normally, I am interested in listening to or singing anything other than Carnatic music.
But now, I have become more open-minded, and have even started thinking about taking this as a career!”
Renowned vocalists such as Aruna Sairam and Srinivas were also present at the event.