What’s better than a bunch of happy hearts swaying away to the music they love? Some more music, we guess.
The energy at Raghubir Singh Junior Modern School on Humayun Raod is palpable as The Capital City Minstrels (CCM) warble out music enlivening the rehearsal space. Besides being Delhi’s very few choir groups, it is also a secular one and extremely active.
This year, they complete 25 years. In recognition and celebration of the same, they’re presenting two concerts, one on November 30 and the other on December 1.
Their commitment to music has helped the group stay together, says Sharmila Banerjee Livingston, its conductor. It’s no mean feat to build a repository of 350 concerts in 25 years.
A place like Delhi where choral culture hasn’t received due patronage, CCM has proved to be a seedbed for other choral music groups to find a rooting.
To further promote it, they’ve travelled to different parts of India as well as abroad to show choral music’s appurtenance in the broader musical culture of our times.
“It now has around 60 voices and will be performing some gems from choral history like Handel’s Hallelujah chorus down to more contemporary pieces like Toto’s Africa and even AR Rahman’s Jai Ho,” says Livingston.
Called Joy: A Season to Celebrate, the 25-year milestone sees different song line ups on each day. As a special feature, six conductors who have previously led the choir, since its inception in 1994, are getting together to relive old times with their favourite pieces.
There will be Alex Heetland and Diane Pritchett from America, Fiona Hedger-Gourlay from Great Britain, Gabriella Boda-Rechner from Hungary, Carolin Remy from Germany, and Nadya Balyan from Russia.
“It’s an absolute honour to collaborate with all these creative minds that, in their capacity, lent so much to building this choir. From the time Zohra Shaw, its founder, got a group of 12 people to meet casually over tea to rehearse for the chance of performing at an upcoming Christmas function, the choir has come of age,” says Livingston.
She has been a part CCM on and off for 23 years. Her mother was remarkably interested in music and introduced her to the world of symphonies, concertos, chorales, oratorios, musical instruments and performance.
After graduating from school, Livingston switched from the pre-med stream to music. Upon the insistence of her parents to get a proper musical education instead of treating it like a hobby, she went to the Wheaton College, Illinois, to study it.
“It was eye-opening, challenging and life-changing. Music there was an academic course and had equal respect and requirements to any other degree, unlike my childhood experience of an emphasis on medicine, engineering etc.,” she says.
Times have changed. Music is taken seriously now. There are also more institutions offering professional training. Hopefully, there will be a day when choral music will be appreciated for what it is, she says.
“The fact that we are standing at the juncture of a 25-year-old landmark, is reassurance in itself,” says Livingston. Good things are waiting ahead, she feels.
November 30 and December 1, at 7:30 pm, Kamani Auditorium. Tickets: Bookmyshow