A 79-year-old veteran choirmaster on one end, a Freddie-Mercury-inspired choir on the other, the Christmas carol nights at Mount Mary Basilica this year are anything but ordinary
Crompton Texeira (centre) in the San Aaila Natal music video. pics courtesy/Crompton texeira on youtube, rohan rodrigues
Revelers making a beeline to Mount Mary Basilica in Bandra for the annual Christmas carol nights will find themselves greeted by not one, but two surprises this year. For one, after more than a year of restorations, the instantly recognisable blue doors and walls have made way for shades of Burma teak and cream by architects Ainsley Lewis and David Cardoz. The other kind of Blues, we’ve just learnt, have been traded in for rock. Classic rock.
“Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see, he’s just a poor boy foretold by prophecy,” go the lyrics to what choir conductor Rohan Rodrigues from Vakola calls the Bethlehemian Rhapsody, a Christmastime twist on Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. If there’s a neighbourhood that rewards a little creative mischief, it’s Bandra. “I hope people enjoy it. It’s a cheerful swerve away from the carols we usually hear,” he says.
The Conchords choir from Vakola in performance
A group of singers, from ninth graders to full-time professionals in their 30s, has been meeting in Vakola to nail this ambitious twist. “Holding together a choir this diverse is not simple, but Mount Mary is every Catholic Mumbaikar’s second home. When you finally get the chance to sing here, you give it your all,” Rodrigues says. The choristers, who call themselves the Conchords, will also perform classics like Hark, The Herald Angels Sing and Carol of the Bells.
Spread across two nights, the Basilica will also host choir groups Carmel Chants from Bandra, Symphony Voices from IC Colony in Borivli, Mistletoe Melodies from Chembur, IBM Choir from Kanjurmarg, and Crompton’s Choir from Kalina.
(Left, right) The newly-restored Mount Mary Basilica in Bandra will be the venue of the choral weekend concerts. File pics
Not everything will feel unfamiliar at the Basilica, thanks to 79-year-old Crompton Texeira. The veteran East Indian musician and composer remembers carolling through the lanes of Bandra, Kalina and Irla as a 19-year-old boy. “That was in the 1960s. Back in the day, a composer had offered me a song and I was over the moon, until it was taken away from me soon after. That day, I decided I’d compose my own music and make a name for myself,” reveals Texeira, who went on to compose the widely popular East Indian classic, Paskin.
For the weekend, Texeira has programmed a mix of English and Marathi songs, although we get the sense he’d happily venture further. The Kalina resident can sing in English, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati and Bhojpuri. The composition San Aaila Naatal will be followed by Chameli, a carol likening Mother Mary to a flower. “I begin and end my day with music, you know?” he laughs, revealing that he is often up before the sun every day, and breaks into one of his compositions almost instinctively. A fitting sequel to a Silent Night, if you ask us.
ON December 13 and 14; 7 pm onwards
AT Mount Mary Basilica, Bandra West.
LOG ON TO Mount Mary Basilica Official on YouTube (for livestream)
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
