Guns 038; Roses Part II

Bethel returned to India, after majoring in piano from Singapore8217;s Bible College in May 2006, to pass on the baton of classical music to youngsters in her native state Nagaland and 8220;not let the music die in me8221;.

Like her, 38-year-old Nibano V Swaro, who completed a Bachelor8217;s degree in classical vocal music from a Southern Californian college and who now teaches music at a church and school in Nagaland8217;s capital Kohima, says interest in western classical music is growing among youngsters in the state. It comes as a contrast in a region known for its young flocking to pop-rock and rabid heavy metal music, and where more than 5,000 people daily attended the recently-concluded, week-long Hornbill National Rock Contest.

Today, Bethel and Nibano, together with an estimated two dozen foreign-educated, Naga western classical musicians have returned to their home state to spread the base of the genre. While, for them, it has been a long journey from the tribal origins to music schools in countries like the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Russia, Singapore and Thailand, most have chosen to come back to Nagaland as music teachers and conductors in schools, churches and private institutes.

The inspiration for this trend, most claim, goes back to the autonomous Patkai Christian College, located about 15 km from Dimapur and off the Dimapur-Kohima highway.

About two weeks ahead of Christmas, the children in the college are getting ready to perform a mix of carols and classical guitar and piano music for a select audience. Friendly banter and youthful caper holds the group together, till everything falls into place with the raising of the baton by the choral director, Kughaho Chishi, a former student of Patkai who studied classical music abroad but returned to head a folk-fusion Naga group and assignment at his alma mater. The concert goes on to feature rendition of works by M. Praetorius, Henry Purcell and Frederick Chopin, among others, while Margaret A Shishak, founder member of the school listens on with evident pride. This is the day she foresaw decades ago.

When the American lady, along with her husband Tuisem A Shishak founded the Patkai School in 1974, she immediately set on the task of sharing with the students some of the knowledge she picked up as a

Masters-degree holder in pipe organ music.

While some of her Naga students like Vivee Peseye has gone on to obtain a doctorate in church music from a US seminary, Bethel recounts Margaret8217;s influence on her musical career in her early days.

8220;As children, we used to go over to her home where there was a piano and she taught us how to play it. Madam Margaret not only introduced most of us to classical music, but she brought the music to Nagaland,8221; Bethel vouches. These days, having seen off 8220;over two dozen students8221; for foreign classical music education and welcomed many back as teachers, Margaret is busy charting a syllabus for a proposed bachelor8217;s degree in Western Classical-Church Music and Ethno Music, a big lift from classical music8217;s elective subject status at Patkai College. 8220;It wasn8217;t difficult to teach western classical music in Nagaland because most of the tribes have music in their blood. It is also a more intellectual and sophisticated form of music,8221; Margaret reflects.

It is the influence of the British, who ruled over much of Nagaland from the late-19th century, and the subsequent sway of the Christian missionaries, especially the Baptists, on the tribal belt that is contended to be the reason of the strong influence of Western culture on Nagaland. Kuvesa 8216;Asa8217; Medeo, an author who is working on a book on Naga tribal culture, mentions that western melody structures sometimes even makes its way to the traditional folk music of the tribes. 8220;The Western influence, including on music, is especially more on tribes like Ao, Lotha and Angami, who were converted to Christianity by the American missionaries before the other tribes,8221; he informs. Nini Lungalung, who teaches classical piano and music theory as an elective subject at Kohima8217;s Northfield School, points out the startling similarities between western musical patterns and the Naga ethnic music. 8220;Music in itself has an immediate appeal here since Naga languages are mostly tonal in nature. Besides, like western classical music, the native music in Nagaland is also sung in harmonies and songs of some tribes have as many as eight paths. While youngsters here largely took to pop and rock because of the influence of satellite television and the Internet, the popularity of western classical music is definitely rising,8221; claims Lungalung.

Nise Meruno, a former student of Patkai and a busy pianist in New Delhi8217;s western classical circuit, though, counters that western classical music in Nagaland has grown holding the hands of the 8220;Church and the Ministry8221;. 8220;There are no ensembles in Nagaland, neither are there any concerts outside charity performances or at the Church. How can they expect a professional musician to come back and earn a living?8221; Nise ponders.

Yet, for Patkai College8217;s current crop of talent like vocalists Noume and Azeema, guitarist Gideon, and Lilia and Kebana, both pianists, there is enough reason to give up on the Celine Dions, Britney Spears and the Bealtes and toe the classical line. 8220;We can work as music teachers in schools or churches,8221; says Gideon. Indeed, authorities at Patkai Christian College list at least 10,000 churches in the North-east alone where there is a need for choir directors.

For guitarist Joey Wock, 28, who is classically trained and also doubles up as the axeman for Kohima-based rock band Divine Connection, western classical education provides him the necessary know-how to be musically flexible. Sitting at the sidelines of the Hornbill Rock Festival, Joey, soon enough, emerges on the stage, amidst a purple haze of injected smoke and torn denim and gives a rippling rendition of a progressive jazz original and Van Halen8217;s rock classic, Love Walks In. He walks off to tremendous applause from the audience. If the groundwork has been laid by western classical music for Joey, or in the strife-torn state of Nagaland where the government is has given 8220;industry status to music8221; according to the Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio, not many would have known.