“Imagine...,” sang nine-year-old Dhaman Chandran and it just felt so right. I always feel hope when children sing John Lennon’s song about a beautiful world without heaven or hell, happy, whole and painless.
I heard this song when I was 10 years old and and I heard it being sung once again by a class of 40-odd kids my daughter taught. They sang it lustily, not understanding a word of the English lyrics, yet somehow conveying the dreams and aspirations of a world full of peace. Chandran sang, tentatively at first, and then more confidently as his voice soared.
It was an evening of melodies, some achingly familiar; while others were new. Students of Coimbatore Music School (CMS) and Meher Children’s Village along with Cecilia Orhwall and the Sångföreningen Qöhr from Sweden presented the concert.
The collaboration with Sweden began in 2003 when The Royal College of Music, Stockholm offered them a project (the other beneficiary was the Bangalore School of Music), explains S Umarani, Trustee and Teaching Faculty of CMS. The project was to build bridges across social, economic and cultural divides through music. “The focus was to teach those children who could not afford to learn music. The idea was to bring unity and oneness using music as a tool,” she says. Even after the project ended, Umarani, Manoj Meshak James (Music Co-ordinator of CMS) and Vineet George Panikker (he trains the children and does the accompaniments for the exam candidates) continued with their mission. Umarani is also the representative in Coimbatore for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), London.
“My association with Cecilia continued even after the project and we have jointly organised six shows since then. Cecilia works with several choirs and brings them to India. At CMS, we believe that children can be empowered through music and that is what we have set out to do,” said Umarani.
And everything that evening reiterated this thought as the children sang Adele, the Beatles, John Denver, Harry Belafonte, Bangles, Paul Simon... with joy, abandon and confidence.
There were loud cheers when a favourite song came up and a lot of hearty clapping, feet tapping and sing-alongs. Nothing to beat an evening of enthusiastic and good music. So civilised.
