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Capital City Minstrels: 25 years young
New Delhi
New Delhi
In the early nineties, a group of women gathered around a piano to plan their last winter concert in Delhi. The group, started by Zohra Shaw, a piano teacher who was affiliated with the Trinity College of Music, had dwindled. For the last performance, they invited the spouses to join them on stage at the French embassy. That evening, however, was a success, project shutdown was shelved, and by next Christmas, the six-member group had become a 25-member team.
The Capital City Minstrels (CCM), one of Delhi’s premier amateur choirs, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
The group is diverse. Neeraj Devraj, one of its lead soloists, runs a real estate consultancy. Reem Khokhar, who has a background in publishing and tourism, is a soprano. The youngest team member, Uday Chhabra, 17, is a student; the oldest, Ashok Bhatia, 82 (his wife, Gita, 80, also sings in the choir), is a former ITC director.
“The diversity works, each member throws something into the pot,” says Khokhar.
The conductor is, of course, the hub of the choir. Sharmila B Livingston is the current conductor of the group. She joined CCM as a chorister 22 years ago, when it was perhaps the only choir doing full-bodied western classical in the city. The group is made of a shifting population; at present, of the 64-member group, there are around only 10 members who were there 10 years ago.
Experience does not make harmony -- the staple sound of a choir, and the process of achieving it -- easy. It’s a team but each singer enters at a different point in the music, according to the score, says Usha Srivastav, one of the oldest members of the group. The production of a common sound, says Livingston, is like a sketch where the multiple strokes create a pattern that becomes evident when put together.
“It can’t be 60 people doing 60 different things just like everyone speaking together does not make for a great conversation. But to train 64 pairs of ears, voices and minds takes time and consent. It’s almost a metaphor for life, the art of getting along with different individuals who when put together can create beauty, grace, harmony and culture, but you have to work at it,” she says.
A choir has soloists but no member is here for a star turn. The point of a choir, says soprano Debbie Paul, who works with the UN, is not about standing out, but to gel, be a team. “During rehearsals, the voice that is too loud is told to pipe down,” she says.
Tea-time before rehearsals goes a long way in fine-tuning the rough edges. Says Fiona Hedger-Gourlay of Scotland who conducted two Christmas seasons, 2010 and 2011, for CCM: “The singing is important, the tea is important, the chatting is important– can’t say which is more important. If you get along, the singing is better”. In Scotland, she runs a choir on the same principle.
CCM’s Christmas concert is usually one of the high points of Delhi’s winter social calendar. Choral singing has historical roots in the church. Some of the best composers in the western choral tradition – Mozart, Bach, Handel – wrote for the church, “just as many of the Indian classical dances, like Bharatanatyam, came out of the temple tradition. You can’t do many of the hand movements of Bharatanatyam without reference to Krishna – a classic pose being one of Krishna holding a flute,” points out the CCM conductor. “CCM draws from varied musical sources and genres, so it’s not as it we are trying to stay away from church, or steer into it.”
Christmas is the time when many new members join in. The draw is to be part of a Christmas concert. This year, as it was the 25th anniversary, the celebratory concert held at the Kamani auditorium recently was structured around 25 songs from 25 years that included conductors’ and audience favourites. Christmas songs were part of the offering.
The group positions itself as a secular choir. “From retro to gospel to Sufi, we sing everything,” says Neeraj Devraj. “All our members have different day jobs. It’s not anyone’s bread and butter. We take time out to do this because we want to.”
