A choir for all seasons

Delhi’s premier performing choir, the Capital City Minstrels (CCM), marked three decades of its existence with a December concert, “Echoes of Alleluia”, comprising celebratory music from their eclectic inventory of 30 years. It had many of the group’s ex-conductors and alumni from various parts of India and the world joining the choir.

In 1994, a group of a dozen singers, led by Zohra Shaw, began to meet informally over tea and snacks, while practicing a Christmas repertoire. Today, the group has about 70 choristers between the ages of 16 and 89, belonging to diverse fields, such as medicine, law, music, diplomacy, social development, as well as students. Each of them does this part time out of love for music.

Zohra founded and conducted the group until 2000, after which the choir has been led by various conductors from all over the world. Over the past three decades, this international secular group has performed more than 400 shows in Delhi and various parts of India and abroad, for music lovers at concert halls, festivals, churches, monuments, government functions, embassies, educational institutions and even for two former Presidents of India.

Nise Meruno
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Currently, the choir is under the baton of international Yamaha artiste Nise Meruno who joined the choir 20 years ago as a singer and later became a pianist. “What sets us apart from others is that our choir is open to evolve; that’s why we perform so many different kinds of music and have also been able to attract many young singers over the years,” he says.

The choir’s music comprises a wide repertoire – from the earliest choral music to the entire spectrum of western classical music, Gospel, opera, ballads, jazz, folk songs, Broadway tunes, rock, pop, jazz, film soundtracks as well as choral arrangements of Indian music. It has performed music in more than 20 languages till date.

In the past, CCM has collaborated with international choirs, such as Le Beau Soleil from Switzerland, the Mixed Voices from Germany, the Yale Schola Cantorum and Juilliard415. Further, the choir has done three European tours, the most recent in June 2018 in Edinburgh, Belfast and London.

CCM concert
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Pallav Bonerjee and his wife, Nisha Sachdeva, are both clinical psychologists and psychotherapists. They joined the choir about a year-and-a-half-ago when Sachdeva met with an accident due to which she had to discontinue her Bharatanatyam practice. “Being musically inclined and looking for a creative outlet to beat stress at work, we decided to audition for the Capital City Minstrels,” says Bonerjee. Thereafter, the couple went onto participate in three of the choir’s concerts in Delhi.

Like Bonerjee, many of the group’s members have no formal training in music, and are admitted via an audition process. Annie Sinha is a retired social development professional in her mid-60s. Previously the President of the CCM , she has been with the group for the last 16 years. “It has been a great journey, with many fun times along the way. We are a well-bonded group, and our rehearsals always begin with tea time, for which we also have a food committee,” she says with a laugh.

The choir is divided into four sections – alto, soprano, tenor and bass – based on one’s voice type. Usually, they stage two annual shows in Delhi – a summer concert in May, and a winter one in December. From time to time, the choir also participates in workshops with musicians as well as does outreach programmes where it performs for underprivileged children.

CCM choir group
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT