Choral music for national integration,Peace and Harmony
Madras Youth Choir performed a choral music programme at Oxford Mat Hr Sec School , Sivaganga. They also gave training on choral singing to 51 school children drawn from nine schools in and around Sivaganga.We sincerely thank the secretary Mr. D . Ramachandran and his team for accepting our invitation .
About Madras Youth Choir
Madras Youth Choir was established in 1971 with a group of college students who were brought together for a youth programme to be broadcasted on All India Radio, under the leadership of Dr. Vasanthi Devi, the erstwhile Vice Chancellor of Manonmaniam University, along with Shri. M.B.Srinivasan, Dr. K.S. Subramanian and Late Smt. Zahida Srinivasan.
Mr. Srinivasan gladly took on the mantle of composer, conductor and director of this group with the main goal of popularizing choral singing and initializing a mass singing movement in India. He had a great passion for choral music and has more than two hundred choral compositions to his credit. His choral compositions were based on Indian classical melodies with innovative use of western music techniques of harmony, counterpoint, etc.
The choral compositions of Shri. M.B. Srinivasan formed the main repertoire of the choir. Later on, compositions of other composers in a few Indian languages, were adapted to suit this genre of music. The Choir served as the flag-bearer for the choral singing movement. Many of the members were directly trained by Shri. M.B. Srinivasan to impart the art of choral singing and to form and train new choral groups in schools, colleges and various other institutions. One of our main activities over the years has been to extend our services to various educational institutions for training children in choral singing. Many schools in and around Chennai, have enjoyed the status of performing songs taught by our choir, during public functions, interschool competitions, broadcast on All India Radio and telecast over Doordarshan. The choir continues its task of training choral groups in various parts of south India and as a recognition for the service rendered, the Choir’s activities are supported by Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Our choir is a non-profit making, voluntary organization consisting of singers engaged in various occupations. The repertoire of the Choir consists of songs on national integration, human and social values, folk songs, lullabies, etc. in various Indian languages
Our Instructors have been specially trained by Late Shri. M.B. Srinivasan, to impart the art of choral singing, in selection of voices, for training groups, in the art of conducting and in the nuances of choral singing. These trained instructors have been periodically invited by various government and voluntary organizations, for not only forming their respective choral groups and training them, but also for conducting choral music workshops, which are attended by music teachers of central and state government schools and private educational institutions. Our instructors also impart training in the art of composing choral music and some of the universities in Tamilnadu have formed their own choral groups with technical assistance from our instructors
Shri. M.B. Srinivasan was one of those who identified himself with the fiery spirit that emerged from the literary works of Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi. It came quite easily for him to depict the poet’s concepts and philosophy through his brilliant musical creativity. A city-based organization, Vanavil Pannpaattu Maiyam, which celebrates Bharathi’s anniversary every year by inviting well-known musicians to perform Bharathi’s songs during the week-long celebrations which are held at Bharathiyar’s house in Triplicane, Chennai, have been unfailingly extending an invitation to the Madras Youth Choir to perform Bharathi’s songs for them for the past ten years.
Music is one of the most pleasant ways of reaching out and over the years we have experienced that singing together as a group promotes and strengthens love and bonding among children. Even those who are generally shy and reserved to perform individually, pick up the courage to bring out their inherent talent while singing in a group. We firmly believe that such an opportunity builds confidence, and national integration could be best promoted through this kind of group singing movement very effectively through the younger generation. Hence our choir has committed itself to this activity and taken it up as a mission, rendering this service not only among schools in the city, but also in other parts of the state.
There are other choral groups that have sprung up as an offshoot of our Choir, such as the MBS Youth Choir in Trivandrum, music groups of various bank employees in Chennai, and choir groups in schools and colleges in Chennai.
The Madras Youth Choir constantly endeavors to enhance the quality of singing by increasing its repertoire with new choral compositions and refreshing the older ones of Shri. M.B. Srinivasan. This Choir takes pride in that it is one of the very few Indian Choral Groups that are active today and rendering service to the society.
Courtesy:http://joyofgivingweek.ning.com/profiles/blogs/choral-music-for-national-integration-peace-and-harmony?xg_source=activity
