When a song beckons, the heart responds. And if it’s Yuletide, the choristers take centre stage and the city rejoices. Yes, it’s that time of the year when music is in the air, and joy fills the hearts.
The winter chill may not have arrived in full force yet, but as scheduled, the Festival Chorister are gearing up to herald the festive season and to celebrate their tenth anniversary.
The beginning
When ten years ago three officers from the civil services got together, it was not to officiate on policy matters but to bring together all the choristers in the city under one umbrella. When Daphne de Rebello, former joint secretary, ministry of Human Resources Development, Department of education, approached Rachael Chatterjee and Aruna Bahuguna with the idea, a new movement in the carol singing was born.
“We were called Christmas Choristers initially, but we had sung during Easter once and renamed ourselves Festival Choristers, even though we stuck to singing only during Chirstmas,” informs Aruna Bahuguna, Director, National Police Academy.
To say that Daphne Rebello was the backbone of the Festival Choristers is an understatement, but she refuses to take credit and says, “It is a big responsibility to organise the event year after year no doubt, but apart from Aruna, Rachael and me there were so many enthusiastic participants and their tremendous cooperation made it all possible.”
Coming from a family of musicians (father was a singer, mother a pianist, two sisters are concert pianists and brother a violinist), Daphne took to playing piano when she was seven, but admits, “I loved academics so much that music has just been a source of recreation and solace. Because music was not my career, I could enjoy it so much more.” Wherever she was posted, Daphne made sure she was part of the choir and pursued her passion for singing. Today, she’s elated that a lot of youngsters are a part of Festival Choristers and they, she believes, will take forward the musical interests of the group. It’s with that confidence that Daphne had committed to make the tenth anniversary a special one for the singers and the city. “We normally have two concerts every year, one at a private venue for a select audience and one to the general public at Ravindra Bharati. I wanted the tenth anniversary to be special and hence we decided to do it at Shilpa Kala Vedika; this will be the first experience there for most singers; also more number of people could attend at that venue,” she informs.
Apart from this, “A down memory lane segment where we have 16 senior members singing among 44 choristers. Mrs. Blessy John is 86 and she’s singing with us,” says Daphne enthusiastically.
Music is ‘a combination of art and worship,’ says Aruna Bahuguna, who despite nursing a cold and fever sounds enthusiastic about the concert. Growing up in Chennai and belonging to a musically-inclined family, Aruna was part of most choirs, including the group at Women’s Christian College (WCC), where she graduated from. Describing singing — specially carols — as ‘soul-stirring’, Aruna hopes that the theme this year ‘Peace to everyone’ is understood and conveyed in the right sense, specially in these troubled times.
Continued support
Veena Kurian has been a part of the Choristers since its inception and singing alto is her forte. A teacher at Vidyaranya School, she facilitated the practice session for the Festival Choristers at the school’s auditorium. Sounding grateful, Daphne says, “I’m so thankful to the late Shanta Rameshwar for lending us the premises. She loved our music and after her passing away, her daughter Nandini continues the practice.”
Among the accompanists that Chorsiters have, Vineeth Cecil, as Daphne describes is a prodigy. He started playing piano at the age of three and now plays every instrument one can name. Daphne tells us that in the absence of a teacher he taught himself and attempted the Grade 8 piano exam all by himself. A modest and excited Vineeth adds, “I’m grateful to the group who were kind enough to let me play for them and also gave me the freedom.”
When it comes to conductors, Festival Choristers had some of the best in the field. The legendary Theodore V Comfort, Commodore T.M.J. Champion, Alfred Kanakraj, Daniel Gomes, Nathan King were some of the brilliant musicians who conducted the Choristers, informs Daphne and adds that this time they are fortunate to have Dr. Susheel Pakyanadhan, conducting them, joining the illustrious list of conductors.
With a sizeable number of Muslims and Hindus as part of the group, the Festival Choristers truly herald the message of peace and joy, which extends beyond the festive season.
(The Festival Choristers 10th Anniversary Concert will be held at Shilpa Kala Vedika, on December 4, 7 pm)
