Not everyday there are musicians flying in all the way from Spain to India to train a bunch of children in Western classical music, all for passion and none for profits. So when it does happen, it becomes an episode to remember for everyone associated with this heartfelt initiative. The recent collaboration of the Mehli Mehta Music foundation and Barcelona Palau de la Música Catalana Choir School is one such instance.
A five week-long programme, this initiative has six established choir directors from the Palau intensively train participants of the local music foundation, which will all culminate in a massive concert that will see over 300 children perform together on stage on July 31 at the NCPA. The participants have been chosen from existing choir groups from various schools in Mumbai. They have all been segregated age-wise into groups ranging from five to 10, 11 to 14 and 15 to 18.
“We have been planning this since 2009, and now that it’s all happening and the date is drawing near, we are all very excited. The children here are very intelligent, talented and willing to learn. So it’s gives us great joy to train them,” says Mariona, one of the teachers, who is also an experienced choir conductor back home.
So what were the kind of challenges that they had to face along the way, in an environment that’s so foreign to them? “Children are children everywhere,” says a spirited Gemma Nadal, the manager of Palau de la Música. Adding further she says, “They are so motivated and eager to give their best. And because of their high energy levels, a lot of energy is required from our side too, to bring the best out of them. So the more you give, the more you receive.” The trainers however underline a few must-do’s when it comes to training children. “The secret is not to give them a chance to get bored. Because once their minds start wandering they get distracted. So we need to make sure we have their full focus.”
Five weeks sound too small a period for such a mammoth task of training 300 children in songs in four different languages. But then the talented team makes it look almost effortless with their sheer efficiency. Each trainer gives her group ample time to get adjusted to the mood. “We don’t rush them at all, but try to seamlessly progress from one song to another,” says Mariona. The teachers also use dance moves and other actions as cues to help the students, especially the toddler lot. “It just makes it a lot more easier for them to remember and catch up,” explains Mariona. Interestingly the choir group also has some children who are going to play a few instruments like the violin, piano and the guitar, besides also offering a hand in percussion.
The musicians are very pleased about the music scenario in Mumbai and don’t feel that people are hesitant to accept Western classical music. “It’s great to see so many types of music being played here. Just goes to show that there is room for everyone,” says Gemma. However Kamal Taraporewala, director of educational programme at the Mehli Mehta foundation, is not ignorant of the reality. “It’s true that Western classical is still very nascent. But one can also safely say that mindsets are changing. People are now exposed to western culture more than ever. With escalating levels of income, they travel overseas more often and are willing to accept and embrace a lot many aspects about their theatre, cinema and music. So things can only get better from here,” she says.
The collaboration is very eager to take things beyond the concert, and not restrict it to a one-off affair. They have plans of organising training workshops for conductors and aspiring musicians, besides more musical exchange programmes.
The Palau de la Musica Catalana is a 120-year-old choir society and their association with Zubin Mehta, the founder of Mehli Mehta Foundation also goes back a very long time. Interestingly in the current training programme, they have incorporated songs of various genres and languages as diverse as Brazilian and Catalonian. It’s also interesting to observe how swift the children are to capture the languages and sing them in varied scales. Says an enthusiastic 14-year-old Rhea Duckworth, “Getting the pronunciation correct proves to be challenging at times, but over all it’s fun to sing in so many languages.” Another beautiful instance of how music bridges all gaps of language and culture. Although it’s also amusing to see that when they are on a ten-minute break from western classical, they unwind with Shakira’s Waka Waka.
But the focus never shifts. The students are given individual attention in voice modulation and co-ordination. “Singing in a choir is not as easy as it looks. In fact there are a whole lot of unique requirements one has to keep in mind while singing with a crowd. For instance, one learns how to co-operate during a song, to respect someone else’s voice, modulate theirs accordingly and keep an open mind,” explains Elisenda, who has been teaching music across many European countries for the past 18 years.
The teachers are capitalising their time in India in every way they can. They have been listening to a lot of Indian music and have also tried to train themselves in a few songs. “The music here is very lively and uses many different kinds of instruments, which is very interesting. It’s a very soulful experience listening to Indian music,” says Gemma. When it comes to the collaboration in its entirety, they too appreciate all kinds of music, and are eager to delve deeper if the opportunity comes by.
But as far as Western classical is concerned, they are in no tearing hurry to propagate it in the country. Like Kamal says, “One can’t rush the growth of any kind of music. You have to give it the time it requires. And at this juncture we are not aiming at producing the best musician. We only want to open up minds and infuse a sense of appreciation.” And they feel that training children is the best way to start with. “The present day audience is ageing. It’s the children of today that’ll make the audience of tomorrow. So one needs to bring music back to the young. And we are trying to do just that, because therein lies the seed of change,” concludes Gemma.