MUMBAI: President of India Pranab Mukherjee and other dignitaries of the capital including the Governor General Tejinder Khanna Khanna were entertained with a rapturous and fun-filled musical performance by members of the Ao Naga choir last weekend.
Invited under the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Indra Dhanush cultural banner on 22 June, the musical group that comprised of 12 members of the choir along with professional musicians gave the high browed audience a taste of the best of international hits from the past and present along with Bollywood classics.
The choir had performed for the President last December as distinguished guests. Formed in 2009, the Ao Naga Choir is an affiliate member of The Royal School of Church Music, UK and the International Federation of Choral Music, USA. Its 40 members include 12-15 professional singers/musicians residing in Delhi-NCR.
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The choir has a wide repertoire ranging from Western classical, folk to popular and spiritual music and choruses from opera, operetta and Broadway musicals. It undertakes an extensive programme of choral music education in a number of schools and various institutions as well as performs regular concerts in Delhi and the NCR
On the night, led by founder Lanu Yaden, the group showcased its vocal prowess and mastery , effortlessly combining four- part harmonies with electric guitars and backbeat.
The song list included ‘Crazy’ (Cee Lo Green), ‘Yesterday Once More’ (Carpenters), ‘Hotel California’ (Eagles), ‘Imagine’ (John Lennon) along with songs by Fleetwood Mac, ABBA and Crosby Stills Young and Nash (CSYN).
The evening was further livened up by classics from Kishore Kumar and RD Burman.
The supporting band comprised of Valentine Shipley (Guitar, vocals), Adhiraj Mustaphi (Drums), Saurabh Suman ( Bass), Rithesh Khokar (Keyboards) and Enyar Jamir (Guitar, vocals).
“The President and all present there were quite thrilled with Abba/Beatles/John Lennon and Hindi songs. The sound was excellent although we had to get in extra sound for a gig like this in terms of guitar amps, drum miking, monitors etc. It’s a great initiative by the President, his Presidential Secretariat and team of advisors,”veteran rocker Valentine Shipley told Radioandmusic.com.
“They really took awesome care of all of us and the hospitality was superb. The security was awesome and right to its mark but very polite in their work. All in all it was a memorable experience for life.I look forward to more shows like this at Rashtrapati Bhavan,” he added.
