Choral ensemble to enthral Goan audience once again TNN | Sep 24, 2011, 08.17AM IST
PANAJI: The magic of choral music is set to enthral Goa once again. The Stuti Ensemble is set to hit concert halls this weekend and next for a series of back-to-back free concerts. They will perform at Maquinez Palace this Sunday and at Clube Harmonia the following Saturday. For this 25-member choir, which performs surprisingly rarely for its stature and girth, these concerts will mark just the 6th and 7th live performance in nearly two years of existence. The choir, oft-lauded for their interpretation and presentation of religious music, is now diversifying its repertoire to include several other genres including western classical and negro spiritual. The man at the centre of this transformation is its new conductor, Miguel Cotta, who is the third person after Nauzer Daruwalla and Nigel Dixon to don the baton for the choir. The choir will share the stage with the MLS Baroque ensemble led by violinist Ashley Rego, which will also play its own repertoire apart from the accompaniment it will provide the choir, which will perform most of its songs in Acapella mode. Pearl Viegas, a pianist, will accompany the choir for a few songs. The Stuti choral ensemble is the brainchild of Fr Eufemiano Miranda, a tireless promoter of the classical and choral genres, who is also the parish priest of Chicalim. When he was the 'padre vicar' of the St Inez Church, he started the choir, in 2009, with the sole aim of reviving the great choral tradition. Fr Miranda, who is one of the singers, is still the force behind the choir. Over the years, though, conductors have come and gone, perhaps the reason for the choir's very few performances, mainly in churches and small venues in a few villages around Goa. However, that's about to change. Immediately on the agenda is a Christmas festival in Bangalore for which the choir has been specially invited. Not surprising, considering the expanded repertoire includes works of the great masters such as Beethoven, Verdi, Haydn and Handel, as well as local maestros such as Fr Camilo Xavier and Fr Lourdino Baretto. Stuti's concerts are always free, and are funded by a bunch of well-wishers called 'Friends of Stuti Choral Ensemble'. The members of the choir itself are a mixed lot, from college-going students to pensioners, all of whom make it a point to attend practices on Mondays and Wednesdays; "however, a little more discipline would be good", says Cotta, who seems hell-bent on leading the choir to greater heights. Plans for the future include 'at least two concerts a year', says Cotta. Musically, he wants to expand the repertoire to include more Portuguese and Konkani songs, in an attempt to fuse choral music with local culture. Also on the agenda is a more disciplined concert; the decision is as unanimous as their voices. "the concert will start at 6:30 pm, whether the chief guest is there or not". http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Choral-ensemble-to-enthral-Goan-audience-once-again/articleshow/10100362.cms