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The right spirit
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The Dece-bells 2007 Christmas concert was a relief for its moderation
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PHOTO: V. SREENIVASA MURTHY
INNER SONG The highlight of the evening was definitely the choir of Jyothi Seva School for the Blind
It was one of those rare Christmas concerts that is far away from the in-your-face commercialisation and market-driven strategies that festivals now occupy. “Dece-bells 2007”, brought together by the Bangalore School of Music (BSM), TVS,
Dockers San Francisco and Radio Indigo 91.9 FM was held in the true Christmas spirit and cheer at Ambedkar Bhavan to a reasonably-sized audience.
The St. Mary’s Orphanage Brass Band began the musical evening with “Lead Kindly Light”, conducted by V. Narayanaswamy. A piece that is “meaningful for each and every one of us”, the boys in their uniforms of red waist bands and olive green bands played forth from their blazing trumpets. “Taking time off from their busy exam schedule”, these underprivileged boys also performed “While Shepherd watched their flocks” – bringing on the Xmas spirit quietly to the evening’s concert.
Next, BSM’s Senior chamber orchestra, also conducted by Narayanaswamy took charge with pleasant, sweet-sounding and “light-hearted” pieces by Mozart. It was soothing and relaxing to the ears and then they played three Enrique Granados “which reflect different emotions at different points”. All the pieces were performed on a grand scale moving from fresh and lifting notes to sombre tunes. Conductor Narayanaswamy even went on to urge the musicians to play a difficult piece composed by an American stating – “You’ll have to forgive us for mistakes”.
The BSM Junior and Senior chamber orchestras, conducted by Peter Appaji, were once again a musical treat. It was a delight to see the young talented ones so immersed in their music and instruments with little red ribbons tied and their wee legs dangling from the chair and not quite reaching the floor.
The highlight of the evening was definitely the visually-challenged choir of Jyothi Seva School for the Blind with visually challenged pianist Pravin, conducted by Sahay Kumar and Louise Pinto. Dressed in Christmas-red kurtas and black pants, the children made their way to their stage by holding hands and leading the others to follow. It was heart-rending to listen to their musical voices, which they’ve worked and practised hard to present a delightful Christmas concert. While Sahay Kumar conducted them to sing some Hindi and Kannada melodies like “Mere Liye Ek Dost Hai”, Louise Pinto trained them to sing songs in both English and European languages like the lifting “The Blue Danube” which they sang from their hearts. They also treated the audience to Christmas carols and a meaningful song for the season that went – “Won’t you give a little love/it’s the easiest thing to do/you’ll be happy the whole year through”.
The Senior Choral Ensemble, conducted by Victor Abraham, though present in less than half of its members, rendered some chirpy numbers and “Fa, la, la, la”.
The concert, which though started thinning out towards the end, was a celebration of music this Christmas season in the right spirit.
AYESHA MATTHAN
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