What makes the Shillong Chamber Choir such a success?

"It felt like the heavens parted and 13 angels came down [to sing],” said an awe-struck Sajid Khan [filmmaker], judge on India’s Got Talent, 2010 to the Shillong Chamber Choir after their mash-up of God be the Glory/Tu Aashiqui Hai, a number which made them win the show. When they landed at Guhawati, “500 cars came to receive us at the airport, people wept on the streets and the usual three-hour journey home, took nine hours,” reminisces Neil Nongkynrih, the conductor and founder, who comes from a family where everyone plays an instrument, like every other family in the Northeast. He adds,“The Northeast has always been a fractured part of India. When I returned to India after training at the Guildhall School of Music and Trinity College in London, gunshots from community infighting echoed daily through this locality [Nongrim Hills, Shillong]. But today, only our music fills the air because the respect we've gained from everyone in Shillong.”

The Shillong Chamber choir has existed since 2001, performing in Europe, the UK, Canada, the US, South Korea, West Asia and South-East Asia and even won accolades like a silver medal at the World Choir Championships, 2009, South Korea for a Khasi opera, Sohlyngngem. “I'm glad success wasn't instant but result of an organic process. Otherwise it would have gone to our heads.” But, the 'angelic voices' gained instant recognition throughout India only after the 2010 reality TV show. Since then, the exceptional has happened. Like crooning for the Obamas at their India visit to appearances on Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC)—Amitabh Bachchan is a fan; sang the choir's rendition of Vande Mataram at a Jodhpur show by standing between the basses and tenors, “like a disciplined choir boy”—to Nongkynrih honoured with a Padma Shri last year. Today, the choir has a choc-a-bloc schedule, concerts almost every other day of January. Each concert throws up surprising, yet crazy fusions of Bollywood and western numbers, 'My Heart will go on'/'Dil Hai Chhota Sa', 'Disco Deewane'/'Voulez Vous'. Lately, they've come out with videos, most popular being 'Baar Baar Dekho'/’S Wonderful Medley' with choristers nailing the '70s look of mittens, bow ties, pearls, waistcoats and a soundtrack born from a range of instruments - flute, horn, bassoon, cello, double strings violin, trombone and tabla.

So what's the secret behind those 'angelic voices' which makes them the most sort-after choral group in India? Perhaps, their practice technique? 

For instance, rehearsals go beyond rote-learning of sound and words. One room in Nongkynrih's sprawling bungalow is mirrored like a workout studio where the group performs cardio exercises to loosen up the body or rehearses dance moves to warm up. This is followed by singing Gershwin, Schubert or Mozart pieces because “western classical music is a good diet for the voice,” councils Nongkynrih. Everyone's adept in reading music, few even compose for the group along with Nongkynrih who says, “As a composer, cannot listen to too much, might start copying.” Sometimes, practices spill into wee hours of morn during an erractic concert schedule. But, there's enough time alloted only to "rest the voice" before the show. Discipline is scrupulous. “I have turned those who walk in late so I'm not a nice Santa Claus,” remarks the conductor whose witty comments are a surprise considering his 'cherubic' appearance. Regular meetings, pre-post-and-in-between concerts, has everyone go blunt about a recent performance or fresh composition. “They say, 'take that off... you can't sing that bit.' At that time, I'm not the boss, just one of them.” Their 'entourage' includes a choreographer, photographer, costume designer and an in-house chef. An updated website and social networking sites keeps their online presence sleek. In the pipeline is also a restaurant - the latter includes these choirsters serenanding guests with a live performance over a gourmet menu.

Constant reinvention is another move. Their performance at Indigenious Terra Madre event last November in Shillong, the choir was joined by 120 children from local schools to showcase the spirit of Northeast India to foreign nationalities with numbers like We Are the Champions and Fly O'er Every Mountain. At the Christmas concert in Bandra, Mumbai, they introduced to the public, for the first time, the Shillong Chamber Orchestra - a handful of 'gifted' musicians from Europe and Russia with few Indians, who need just one rehearsal with the choir to get timing and pitch, bang on.

But their secret isn't just in rigorous vocal techniques, good marketing, timing and finesse. “It lies in humility and faith in the unknown. I teach two hours of singing and eight hours how to be humble. Good music has to come from a heart that is soft and forgives. This sense of you being the centre of the universe is what I ensure my 'kids' go consciously against. We still find peace in the chaos of concerts, film launches, rehearsals because we pray a lot and believe in miracles. If I didn't teach this, we would have long disbanded.”

He recollects occasions the choir's music has saved people. "One boy visited our house. I told Iba [lead singer of the choir] to sing for him. She sang, Mama thank you for who I am. The boy later confessed he had planned to jump off a cliff but changed his mind after the song made him wonder about his mother's plight.