Season to be jolly
The Festival of Festive Music has been ringing in the Christmas spirit
in Mumbai for the past 28 years, when singer and choir conductor Alfred
D’Souza, founder of The Stop-Gaps Cultural Academy, launched it in 1983.
This weekend, the annual carol-singing festival will be back with its twenty-ninth edition, featuring nine choirs from five cities around the country.
Besides the Stop-Gaps’ own junior and senior choral ensembles, and other Mumbai choirs such as the Santascruz Ensemble, Salvation Singers and Wild Voices, participants include bel canto from Pune, The Harmonics from Chennai, Glorious from Bangalore and first timers The Kottayam Mixed Voices from Kerala.
This weekend, the annual carol-singing festival will be back with its twenty-ninth edition, featuring nine choirs from five cities around the country.
Besides the Stop-Gaps’ own junior and senior choral ensembles, and other Mumbai choirs such as the Santascruz Ensemble, Salvation Singers and Wild Voices, participants include bel canto from Pune, The Harmonics from Chennai, Glorious from Bangalore and first timers The Kottayam Mixed Voices from Kerala.
“Music transcends language, so the choirs will be singing in
English as well as their native languages,” says D’Souza, who began the
festival as a carol-singing competition for choirs across Mumbai.
“There was a lot of talent in the city and I basically wanted to give them a platform to perform,” he adds. “So in the second year, the festival did not feature any competition, and many more choirs from across the country came to join the fun.”
Participating choirs function on a voluntary basis, with singers juggling rehearsals with full-time jobs.
“We sing traditional carols in our own new rhythms and styles, but
we also always include at least one original composition,” says Mimosa
Almeida, founder of the 20-year-old Santacruz Ensemble, who has composed
a new swing-jazz number, Swingin’ on a Star, for this year’s show.
“This festival has gone a long way in giving young choirs to come up.”
“There was a lot of talent in the city and I basically wanted to give them a platform to perform,” he adds. “So in the second year, the festival did not feature any competition, and many more choirs from across the country came to join the fun.”
Participating choirs function on a voluntary basis, with singers juggling rehearsals with full-time jobs.
“We sing traditional carols in our own new rhythms and styles, but
we also always include at least one original composition,” says Mimosa
Almeida, founder of the 20-year-old Santacruz Ensemble, who has composed
a new swing-jazz number, Swingin’ on a Star, for this year’s show.
“This festival has gone a long way in giving young choirs to come up.”
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