The Shillong Chamber Choir shot into limelight after winning a TV talent show in October this year. They performed for US President Barack Obama when he visited India
Mentor: Neil Nongkynrih
How did the Choir come in contact with him: He founded the Shillong Chamber Choir in 2001
How he has helped the choir members hone their skills: Nongkynrih is the teacher of the group. He teaches music to the choir members. He is also the spiritual guide of the group.
The chorus line is first off the blocks. It is not a part of the original song and doesn’t reveal it. All that changes a few seconds later when Ibarisha Lyngdoh hits a cut-glass ‘B’ note that lights up the ‘Yeh’ of ‘Yeh Dosti Hum Nahin Todenge’. Soon bass, tenors and the altos join in. The dry ruins of Khirkee, Delhi are now drenched in the high notes of this popular song. Schoolchildren using the ruins as a shortcut and the elderly watchmen of the site draw closer, hooked by — but unsure of — this harmonic experience.
Six months ago nobody in “mainstream India” knew of the 20-member Shillong Chamber Choir. They have been around since 2001 but they didn’t get popular until now. They won three gold medals at the World Choir Olympics in China in July 2010. They’ve performed for former Indian President Dr. Abdul Kalam as well as for the incumbent Pratibha Patil. But they hogged the spotlight in mainstream media only after winning first prize at the TV show, India’s Got Talent on Colors.
Since then, they’ve performed for US President Barack Obama when he visited India this year. They will have performed at a corporate gathering for the Mahindra Group in Malaysia by the time this story is published.
This was inspite of the fact that they are the most expensive choir group in the country. They charge Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 3 lakh for a short performance. When they performed at the Homi Bhabha Auditorium in Mumbai, the total cost of the concert was Rs. 49 lakh. When they travel (all paid by the host), Nongkynrih, the mentor and head of the choir, travels first class while the others travel economy. “We only agree to be put up in 5-Stars,” says Nongkynrih.
I am in a basement that houses the Quarter Notes Studio in Malviya Nagar, Delhi, on a Wednesday morning, waiting for the Shillong Chamber Choir to arrive. ‘Oh Holy Night’ is playing on a CD. The 17-year-old Ibarisha Lyngdoh’s voice is plaintive enough to melt the snow in any heart. Gaurav Chintamani, who runs the studio, is putting the final touches to the 10 carols for the Choir’s holiday season album, Christmas Everyday.
The Choir was supposed to meet me an hour earlier. I am not complaining. I am intently listening to their album until they show up. Tenors, altos, falsettos, bass singers, sopranos, all of them sing to me. I like to think that I have a good ear for music but the variety of singers in the Choir astounds me. Suddenly, there’s the thud of footsteps as a swarm of people enter the studio. The 20-odd strong Choir is here. “Sorry, we are late,” says Damon Lyndem, 25, former bass singer for the band, and now their manager. “We were up until 5 a.m., praying.”
Wait a minute. Did I hear correctly? Praying? “Yes, we pray a lot,” says Neil Nongkynrih, choir director, pianist, founder, conductor, father figure, teacher, spokesperson and mentor to the motley group of teenagers and young adults that make up the Choir. An affable, short, portly man who smiles easily, Nongkynrih conducts the Choir on stage; And off of it. Everyone calls him Uncle Neil and his word is law.
Seated in a small chair in the lobby of the basement, Nongkynrih, a chronic consumer of paan, tries to explain the concept of the Choir. “We are a bunch of young, enthusiastic people who can sing in all genres — from classical to jazz.” That came in very handy when the Choir participated and won India’s Got Talent, a reality TV show on Colors (Colors is part of the Network 18-Viacom brand that publishes Forbes India) in October this year.
Since they can sing in all genres it wasn’t too hard for them to sing in a language they barely understand — Hindi — and songs that they haven’t heard often: ‘Yeh Dosti’ from Sholay and ‘Tu Hai Aashiqui’ from Jhankaar Beats. Their repertoire consisted of classical music, Khasi songs, spiritual songs and Carols before India’s Got Talent. Why, then, did they take such a big risk? “We knew that these songs would connect us to the audience like no other. Everyone in India knows these songs and they are easy to learn,” says Nongkynrih.
Fair enough, but can we go back to the praying? “We are a God-fearing group. We sing in one voice, we do a lot of meditation and praying. We are on the other end of the spectrum that ends with sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. We don’t mind if people call us cheesy or corny,” says Nongkynrih.
(This story appears in the 31 December, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)