A Musical Sunday - with Mumbai Youth

Sing, sing a song

Sing out loud

Sing out strong

Sing of good things not bad

Sing of happy not sad.

It was indeed a happy day for singing and music yesterday in Mumbai as 12 choirs got together the St. Andrews Auditorium in Bandra for the Diocesan Youth Centre's - Singing Competition.

Christmas Carols (not songs) were the flavor of the day with impressive renditions of the Classic Carols including Silent Night, The First Noel, Joy To the World, What Child Is This. There were also some carols that I heard for the very first time. 

The Modern Carol category had an eclectic mix of themes and styles from Acapella, Jazz and Country and also patches of Latino and Beatbox. There was total excitement in the air.

The highlight of the event though was the opportunity for creativity. 9 of the 12 teams had composed original Christmas carols that they performed at the competition. It would really be great, if some of the talented professionals could come forward to encourage this effort and make it immortal by compiling an album of the best original tunes alongwith some of the other breathtaking performances. 

The atmosphere of the day took me back around 25 years when I was a teenager. At the OLPS Parish in Chembur, we used to have a Summer Camp every year with talent competitions from Music and Singing, Elocution, Dramatics to some Creative Competitions including Ad Campaigns, Telegames, etc.

However, on the standard of music, the closest to this, I have experienced has been the Malhar at St. Xaviers College. Besides participating in the singing competition for all my five years in college, I had the privilege to cover the festival for the Youth Show on All India Radio on two occasions. From Cadences, Concord, Rhapsody In You the competition was absolutely stiff, and has generated some great musicians for Mumbai city. 

A couple of people I have met at the Malhar during my college years are active contributors to the Mumbai Music and Entertainment scene today. Among them, Karen D'Lima Vaswani (Rockin Marmalade/ Victory Chorus Line) and Sunita Dias Noronha (Music Revival). Both of them are extremely talented and what even more commendable, actively involved in sharing music with all generations - the young and the old. Will tell you more about these fabulous and other musicians I've encountered in a later post.

Back to yesterday, I must congratulate all the teams that participated - irrespective of the results - for their great talent and effort. Also a big hand to the Diocesan Youth Centre (led by Fr. Ryan Alex and Deacon Ivan Fernandes) for this great initiative and contribution to music. Also all the professionals who made their time to be there at the event as mentors and contest judges to guide the youth and encourage their creativity in the music field.

Wishing all of you, a very musical 2016 and beyond. 

The team from OLPS Chembur

PS: 

• The competition was won by St. Josephs Mira Road, with OLPS Chembur taking 2nd Place. O.L of Nazareth Bhayander was awarded the prize for original score. 
• I have just this one picture of my parish team for now. Will add pics of the other teams as and when I get them.