Serenade For Shakespeare

MUMBAI : Serenade For Shakespeare: A Performance by The Chamber Singers at the Mumbai Litfest Tata Theatre, NCPA, Friday, October 31, 8pm.

Ben Jonson, in a preface to the works of William Shakespeare, described him as a man “not of an Age, but for all time”. How true, for this year we celebrate the 450th Birth Anniversary of this great poet and playwright. It is a rare occasion when music, poetry and theatre share the stage.

Shakespeare’s poetry is itself musical, composed with an ear for both meter and harmony. Readings by Mumbai’s well-known theatre personalities Gerson D’Cunha and Roger Pereira exemplify this quality. Moreover, the poems and plays of Shakespeare have inspired countless musicians over time. In the main concert of the evening, the Chamber Singers of Pune will present a choral selection from various composers through the ages who have set Shakespearean text and its adaptations to music, in powerful and evocative ways.

The programme is rich and varied. It features songs from the plays, such as the nimble and spirited “Over hill, over dale” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, set by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and the haunting “Come Away Death” from Twelfth Night, set by Johannes Brahms. Also included is Incidental Music composed by Felix Mendelssohn to evoke the fairy-world in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the beautiful “Serenade to Music” by Vaughan Williams, set to text from The Merchant of Venice. The programme ends with classical and modern works based on the universally well-loved story of Romeo and Juliet, culminating dramatically with “The Capulet’s Ball” from Charles Gounod’s opera Romeo et Juliette.

The Chamber Singers : The Chamber Singers, from Pune, are a small, dedicated and disciplined amateur group consisting of persons of different backgrounds, age groups, communities and professions, bound together with a common love for choral music. Their performances, over the past twenty years, cover a very wide and varied repertoire from medieval to modern times. These include a number of  lesser known works, e.g. a set of Chants composed by the 12th C. mystic nun, Hildegard von Bingen,  Gustav Holst’s Hymns from the Vedas,  Poulenc’s  Prayers of St. Francis of Assisi and his Gloria,  Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms,  John Tavener’s The Lamb,  works by R. Vaughan Williams, etc.  In recent times, the choir has also performed popular jazz songs from the Tin Pan Alley era. 

The Choir has received high acclaim for their performances in Pune, Mumbai and Goa. The Chamber Singers have performed at the Rachol Seminary Chapel, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Museum of Christian Art; also at the Monte Music Festival in Old Goa at the invitation of the Fundação Oriente; and at the Con Brio Festivals at the NCPA in Mumbai.

Veronica Krishnayya – Founder and Conductor : Veronica Krishnayya is a well-known musician, teacher and choral conductor, who had her musical training in Mumbai and the USA.  She studied Piano under Miss E. Leech in Mumbai.  Later, in the USA, she studied Piano under Dr. Katja Georgieff, herself a student of Paul Badura-Skoda, and Voice and Choir Conducting with Dr. Robert Hutcheson. 

Paul Stewart – Guest Piano Accompanist : Paul Stewart, who will accompany the choir on the piano, is a well - known concert pianist who has performed as a soloist with orchestras in solo recital and in chamber music in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. Since 2002 he has been Professor of Piano at the University of Montreal. Admission free. Passes available at the LitFest counter at NCPA from 10a.m. onwards on day of performance.