BACH IN THE HILLS

The Shillong Chamber Choir has performed across the world. This has been a specially good year. In March,Nongkynrih and his team of musicians collaborated with the Vienna Orchestra for a concert held in Shillong. In July,the choir bagged a silver at the World Choir Championship in South Korea. The choir plays Bach and Beethoven,Mozart and Handel as well as popular adaptations of Queen and ABBA. The criteria being: music which gives positive vibes,which uplifts one, says 39-year-old Nongkynrih. The choir comprises largely young people. The youngest member is a 13-year-old. The oldest is 27.

The story of this choir is linked closely to the journey of its founder. Music is something that came naturally to me. I never received any formal training, says Nongkynrih. Nobody in the family was a professional musician. Introduced to Mozart and Beethoven by his grand-aunt,Neil learnt most of his initial lessons from his sister,Pauline Warjri,a a jazz musician. Nongkynrih left for Britain as a young man to study music,against the wishes of his father,a former state minister.

He learnt music at the best places in the world and from the best in the businessTrinity College and Guildhall School of Music in London. But he was always on the search of something new. After numerous shows as a concert pianist in Britain,he felt his music was getting elitist and commercial. He knew he had to return home.
Thirteen years later,in 2001,the native returned and soon found a purpose. With another piano teacher from Shillong,he cobbled together singers for his choir. The initial response was lukewarm as the idea of de-linking the choir from church music was new to this predominantly Christian city.

But their first concert broke the ice. And before long,the choir was performing across the worldin London,Milan,Warsaw,Switzerland and Colombo.
Music,for Nongkynrih,has also been a way to re-connect with society and give something back. In the initial years as a choir leader,he found children from villages or from modest backgrounds and trained them. His lead singer,Johanan Lyngdoh,is a 19-year-old,a former drug addict,whose family had given up on him. He was left at Nongkynrihs house one day. The music and Uncle Neils ministrations brought him back from the brink.

On any day,there are a dozen children living and studying in Nongkynrihs home school. Most of them have troubled families or suffer from a mental disability. Some parents just come and hand over their child so that they turn into good human being. I am not a social activist. Nor do I wish to be one. I am doing what comes naturally to me, he says. These children now stay with me. The school is about living together and enjoying music. For me,music is a means to participate in the society.
The star of the choir,these days,is,16-year-old Ibarisha. Gifted with an amazing voice,the young talent can sing in Khasi,Hindi,Assamese,English,French,German,Italian and Latin. Such is the potential of this girl that she gave a solo recital in Switzerland at the age of 13, says Nongkynrih with pride.

He remains confident about the reach and relevance of classical music. People are yet to understand what an opera is. It is not a big fat woman screeching in an incomprehensible language. Its about high quality music with a story line dealing with emotions. The choir has performed in Patna too. I was asked to play Bollywood numbers. I did so in my way. I have written Hindi opera too, says Nongkynrih.
As of now,he is trying to revive the Khasi language,with a Khasi opera. But the music hes created aims to do more. My music is classical not because it dates back to the times of Mozart and Beethoven but because it is of a quality that I hope will last for hundreds of years perhaps eternally, says Nongkynrih.