There’s a wonderfully still moment at the start of every carol concert when you are visited by ghosts of Christmases past. Among the memories of good times, for the Minstrels, it is a throwback to singing of joy and hope in the leafy bylanes of Purasaiwalkam half a century ago. Founded in 1968, by school friends who loved a game of cricket as much as they loved pitching their voices together, the Minstrels have been singing at special services in and around Chennai since then.
“We were all students of Madras Christian College School and lived in the same neighbourhood. We had a lot of time and our parents thought we could put our fledging guitar skills and voices to use. We first sang at the CSI Missionary Chapel, Mookathal Street, in 1978 and since have been singing at special services in churches,” says John Manikam, choir director and one of the founding members of the Minstrels.
The all-male choir that initially had 10 members and swelled to 30, is now a 16-voice, four-part harmony ensemble. “Members are scattered across age groups — the youngest is 18, the oldest 64 — and we don’t strictly audition for it. We welcome anyone who can carry a tune,” says John, who took over from Donald Madhavaraj.
The choir that sings hymns and gospel songs in both English and Tamil, counts the music of the Seekers as one of their early favourites. “For the upcoming concert we will be singing Don Moen’s ‘Emmanuel has come’ and our all-time favourite, ‘Devan nammaku adaikalam’.
Two concerts a year by the Minstrels — a Christmas worship service and a Lenten song service — raise funds for families from disadvantaged backgrounds. The choir has also recorded and released DVDs.
Have they considered opening the choir to women? “We stuck with what our parents asked us to do,” laughs John.
This year’s edition of Echoes of Christmas Day, will be held on December 13 at the Emmanuel Methodist Church, Jeremiah Road, Vepery, at 6.15 pm. The event is free and open to all.
