The women looked elegant in black saris with gold borders. The men were dapper in their dark suits. The setting, formal. The atmosphere, exciting. The place, the Museum Theatre. And the event? The 20 anniversary celebrations of one of Chennai’s most prominent mixed groups – The Octet Cantabile.
Led by its extremely talented conductor and tenor singer Augustine Paul, the choral group comprising Maxyn Kingston, Anupa Christdoss (Sopranos), Pearline Roopkumar, Jayanthi Prabhakar (Altos), Billy John, Kingslin Ponbhabha (Bass) and Emmanuel Prathapsingh (Tenor) re-lived its great moments with several gospel numbers in English and Tamil at the concert titled ‘Choral Enchantment.’
The evening at The Museum Theatre, saw various musical genres come together – country, jazz, Carnatic, R&B, and even hip hop – to underline the power of prayer.
For a group to stick together for so many years is indeed an amazing achievement. Members left and replacements had to be found; some fought sickness and the audience tastes changed. Even though the Octet members came from different backgrounds, had various opinions and varying tastes in music, what kept them together was their common passion for music. The evening was a reiteration of that passion, that faith. As the group’s able leader Augustine said, “The Octet uses music to spread the word of God.”
True to tradition, the evening began with the sound of a church bell followed by ‘Praise God,’ a beautiful prayer. The group then went on to present soulful songs and keertanais from its large repertoire collected over the years – ‘For He Shall Give Charge,’ (From Elijah- F. Mendelssohn), ‘Yennilaadanga,’ ‘Neer Maatram Podhum,’ the evergreen ‘Lord Don’t Move The Mountain,’ ‘Aiyane’ (Carnatic style with an interesting string of swaras), ‘In My Life Lord,’ and the meaningful Tree Song, to name a few.
The Octet is a great fan of the Swingle Singers, an international a cappella phenomenon, known for its vocal versions of great musical pieces. That evening , the group chose to sing J.S. Bach’s Organ Fugue in B minor arr. for voices. The second piece, Overture from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro set by Ben Parry, offered some funny moments. The final pieces included Manhattan Transfer’s peppy ‘Java Jive’ (which the Octet sang at its first ever concert) and a soulful ‘Carry your Candle.’
With 20 years of singing together comes perfection in execution. And that is the Octet’s USP. With smiles on their faces and sharing a cool camaraderie, Maxyn, Anupa, Jayanthi, Pearline, Billy Sir, Emmanuel, Kingslin and Augustine were one happy group of singers. And that joy was palpable that evening where music ruled supreme.
