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President’s Report, AGM 2011
2 November 2011
Dear Members of CCM,
Thank you for your presence here today at the formal Annual General Meeting of our Society.
A lot of water has flown under the bridges over Yamuna, even as we now look back and see that April 2010 to March 2011 and since… has been a musically productive, a very busy, and a rewarding year for CCM.
Some of the narratives in this Report may appear repetitive when I cover most of 2010 here – which was touched upon in the Annual Report at the last AGM as well, when the previous Committee was still in the Chair. However, it would not be appropriate to ignore, especially when majority period being reported on relates to the current Report.
Pardon the overlap, but it may be recalled, just before commencement of the period of this Report, on March 30th 2010, the Hungarian Centre celebrated the birth centenary of their famous music composer Erkel. The Choir was invited to perform choruses from his Opera. Organised by our erstwhile conductor Gabriela Boda-Rechner, the concert was held at the India International Centre; with her sons Marouan Ben Abdallah accompanying us on the piano and Yannis Ben Abdallah performing the solo parts from the same Opera. True to Gabriela’s tradition, a resounding success – with this tremendously talented family showcasing their well accomplished sky high standards in musical excellence with CCM’s support – which the CCM choir provided amply.
Concerts:
Rehearsals had already begun in early 2010 for the spring/ summer concerts at the Hungarian Centre (May-12) and India Habitat Centre (May-13) – both fun-filled and enjoyable concerts presented to packed houses. These were basically farewell concerts to conductor Gabriela who was returning home to France after four years in India with CCM. The music chosen was from various operas that CCM’s members had participated in – starting with the familiar O Fortuna, to several songs from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Verdi’s Nabucco, Chorus of the Cold People from Purcell’s King Arthur; Hazam, hazam and Gondold meg es igyal from Bank Ban, Meghalt a Cselszovo from Hunyadi Lazlo, from Adolphe Adam’s If I Were King, Habanera from Bizet’s Carmen, and Brindisi from La Traviata. Certainly a BLAST !! We got a STANDING OVATION from the audience... Which, in Delhi, for Western opera music, is huge!! Writing in the Statesman, veteran music-journalist G.George called our concert at IHC one of CCM’s best “….an inspired concert – infusing much sentiment and passion in their farewell.”
CCM then organized one of the best ever farewell dinners for Gabriela at fellow CCM-er Aniko Palanky’s farm on June-13… for which the then fellow singer Fiona Hedger-Gourlay from CCM’s Alto line trained the choir in a couple of ABBA adaptations with re-written music and lyrics tailored to suit the occasion; sung acapela by CCM-ers at the farewell party much to Gabriela’s surprise and delight. This also paved the way for Fiona to step into Gabriela’s shoes as one of the conductors for the singing season that followed.
Peace-2010
Practices for the 2010 Peace and Christmas concerts started from July 2010.
In the October Peace season, CCM could perform only one concert at the Hungarian Centre – jointly conducted by both our new conductors who put in their best.
Consequently, CCM’s concert calendar for the Christmas Season was rather heavy with three regular concerts with free entry to all public and music lovers; and four other engagements where CCM performed either as a whole group or with its splinter group:
The Public Concerts were:
9th Dec: at the Bahai Auditorium (in the complex of the picturesque Bahai Lotus Temple);
11th Dec: at the Hungarian Information & Cultural Centre (1A-Janpath); and...
13th Dec: at India Habitat Centre's Stein Auditorium
At all of which the entry was free.
Among CCM's other performances in the Christmas-2010 season (sung by ccm’s different splinter groups-- were also the ones
i. at the Vatican Nunciature (Embassy) on December 6th – conducted by Nadya Balyan; on the occasion of the blessing of the Nativity Crib.
ii. at YWCA's Constansia Hall of the YWCA on 15th December – conducted together by Nadya Balyan and Fiona Hedger-Gourlay;
iii. on Vijay Diwas at the Military's prestigious new Manekshaw Centre – conducted by Canato Jimo; for the Chiefs Conclave (current and ex) of all three armed Services - Army, Navy & Air Force –on Dec-16; and....
iv. at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for President Pratibha Patil and her guests on 18th Dec; conducted together by Nadya Balyan and Fiona Hedger-Gourlay;
Where entry was restricted by specific invitation by the organisers or sponsors only.
On 21 Feb 2011 members of CCM along with the Delhi Chamber Choir and Neemrana Choir participated in and presented the Ferenc Liszt Commemorative Concert at the Teen Murti Auditorium with Marouan Ben-Abduallah on the piano. This concert, which yours truly was privileged to compère was conducted by Gabriela Boda-Rechner who returned to India a few days before the concert for a special workshop and then to conduct. The concert was not only a success, but had a special significance as well. Immediately after the last piece was sung, Dr Imre Lazar came on stage to announce the recognition conferred on Gabriela by the Hungarian government for being Hungary’s music ambassador across nations of the world. The citation was read, and The Ambassador presented her the Award on behalf of the Hungarian Government. It was gratifying to note that Gabriela our wonderful former conductor had chosen to come back to India to receive this great Honour conferred on her by her Government, on Indian soil and in New Delhi. In small token of our affection, CCM presented Gabriela with a pictorial album from a collection of photographs of her highlights in India over the four years of her stay here.
Post-Concert on 21st Feb, a celebration dinner was hosted by the Hungarian Ambassador at his residence. CCM also hosted a dinner party for Gabriela on 23rd Feb at the Hungarian Centre with usual verve and gaiety synonymous with its name.
On March 05 CCM participated in the annual Korean concert at the Sai Auditorium in Lodhi Institutional area – which Nadya Balyan conducted.
On March 12, 2011 at the behest of fellow CCM-er Dariel Mathur, a group of CCM-ers sang in the chapel at the Vatican Nunciature at the nuptials of an Intalian couple from the diplomatic community: conducted by Nadya Balyan.
On March 13, 2011 some members of CCM sang a limited repertoire at the ‘confirmation’ ceremony of a ward of Antje Schultz, one of our choir members in the soprano line up. This was conducted by Fiona Hedger-Gourlay.
Spring-2011
We had three concerts during the 2011 Spring Season under conductor Nadya Balyan’s baton, presenting Music and Songs from across the world, in languages: English, French, Latin, Italian, German, Swedish, Swiss, Hungarian, Russian... Hindi and Japanese too.... in special tribute to the earthquake/ tsunami/ and nuclear disaster hit Japanese people - through fellow choir-ist Katsuhiko Yamagata - our Japanese member, who provided us with the scores to sing ‘Furusato’ a melodious Japanese spring song. Jin Ah - the accomplished Korean pianist accompanied the choir.
i) The first spring concert at the Hungarian Centre on April-29 was dedicated to Dr Imre Lazar – the departing Director of HICC; and to welcome the new incumbent in his place, Mr Tibor Kovacs.
ii) The next, at the India Habitat Centre on May-4; and
iii) The last, at Gurgaon’s Epicentre on May-5 followed by a post-concert party hosted by CCM-ers – the Bahouts Bernard and Claude.
As a special courtesy to the Baha’i Centre in Delhi who have always extended their warm friendship to CCM, on May-18 a part of CCM participated in the SOLIDARITY CONCERT organized by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India - to mark the incarceration of seven former leaders of Iran’s Bahá’í Community and to remember all human rights victims in Iran –The Group was conducted by fellow CCM-er from within our own ranks, Dr Kathleen Holloway.
Peace-2011
Post spring and summer 2011, the conductor’s baton moved on to Fiona Hedger-Gourlay; and practices for the next singing season in September-October started in right earnest in May-2011 itself even before members took their summer break. Thanks to the conductor supported ably by her husband Tim Hedger-Gourlay, sheet music and learning tracks were made available with a weblink specially created for the purpose. Intense practices followed when the choir re-assembled in August, followed by two stunning performances at the Hungarian Centre (Sept-28) and the Teen Murti Auditorium (Sept-29) under Fiona’s conductorship with Nise Meruno on the piano and Oswaldo Jorke on percussion. An added star attraction at this year’s peace concerts in Delhi was the renowned Hungarian folk singer Andrea Navratil who performed as a visiting guest artiste. The program this Season of Peace consisted of contemporary choral works, world music, folk music and some of Gandhiji’s favourite songs; featuring composers from Britain, Austria, Hungary, America and India.
On the heels of these two concerts in Delhi, members of CCM flew to Kashmir on the invitation of the Chief Minister of J&K to perform peace concerts in Gulmarg (Oct-02) and Srinagar (Oct-03). The trip was made possible solely through personal liaison and endeavour put in by CCM’s Vice-President Gita Bhatia, and Treasurer Ashok Bhatia who arranged for the trip to be sponsored by the J & K Tourism Dept. Due to the special nature of sponsorship and limitation on numbers that could be taken, only a select group could make this memorable trip. CCM’s resolve is to endeavour in future to make it possible for the entire group to participate in such out-station experiences.
On October-02, CCM performed at the fairy tale 120 year-old antique place of worship, the St. Mary’s Church in Gulmarg. For this concert, the Hon’ble Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister, flew in from Srinagar in a helicopter; and so did the Union Minister Dr Farouq Abdullah with his family – all of who graced the occasion. To fill the Church to capacity, members of the Christian community of Srinagar with their Pastor travelled by bus to Gulmarg; and we received a standing ovation from all the congregation present, including the VIPs!
The concert in Gulmarg was followed by a Lunch in Hotel Nedous, at which the Chief Minister joined us and remained with us for the rest of the day till his return to Srinagar.
Our second concert was in Srinagar the next day of Oct-03, at the 700-capacity Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) over-looking the waters of the picturesque Dal Lake. The same repertoire of our Peace Concerts elsewhere was also presented here – but unfortunately to our disappointment and that of the audience present – who nevertheless were enthralled no less thanks to our energetic conductor getting all the audience to participate enthusiastically. For the concerts in Kashmir, percussionist Suchet Malhotra joined us in place of Oswaldo.
There were tears in the eyes of some people who attended the night-long dinner party hosted by the owners of Broadway Hotel post-concert – who were moved emotionally to thank CCM for bringing music back to the Kashmiris starved for such for the past over twenty years.
Conductors
i) On Gabriela’s return to France the Conductor’s baton was passed on jointly to Nadya Balyan and Fiona Hedger-Gourlay – both of who we were happy to welcome. They were conductors jointly for the 2010 Peace and Christmas Seasons
ii) For the 2011 Spring and Summer singing Season CCM performed under the baton of Nadya Balyan;
iii) For the 2011 Peace Season of singing we performed under the baton of Fiona Hedger-Gourlay; and continue to be so for the 2011 Christmas Season of singing.
iv) CCM’s charter while laying down its aims and objectives also mentions about nurturing and building talent from within the group – and with this objective it was heartening to identify and use conducting talent in budding conductors Canato Jimo and Dr Kathleen Holloway.
HICC:
On 3rd Feb 2011 a few Members of the current Committee called on Dr Imre Lazar – the then Director of the Hungarian Information & Cultural Centre – to familiarise him with the new dispensation in CCM’s management and to request him to continue the existing arrangements as regards our rehearsal venue on terms as renewed in the previous year – continuing our special relationship for mutual benefit that the Choir and the HICC have enjoyed over the last fifteen years.
During this period being reported on, there has also been a change of guard at the HICC, with Dr. Lazar’s return to Hungary and in his place the arrival of Mr Tibor Kovacs as the new Cultural Attache and Director of HICC. CCM was happy not only to welcome Mr Kovacs as HICC’s new Director, but also fortunate to induct him into the Choir in the ranks of the Bassos.
Plans & aspirations
CCM did attempt to foray into the India Festival in France when on 22nd July 2010 four of our members including the then President Usha Srivastava, Veronica Peres, Sharmila Livingston and me met Mr Suresh Goel DG-Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) in the matter. It may be recalled that earlier in 2008 CCM’s tour of Europe was partially sponsored by the ICCR– India Festival in France. We returned with only a promise they would keep us in mind for future possibilities – as apparently everything for the Festival of India in France was finalized a year ago. CCM intends to keep up our interaction with ICCR.
CCM is currently working on participating in the Goa International Music Festival 2012 at Monte Mariano in early February. Hopefully we would be having a Goa trip in the offing, if we are selected to participate.
We also have a request from the Cancer Society of India for a fund-raising concert at the Baha’i Centre in early Feb 2012.
CCM website:
The website is active and it has helped former singers be in touch with choir folk and new people be informed about us and our activities. Further website development is in progress to update and make it more interactive.
YouTube
Our presence on YouTube today is quite substantial with video clips of our performances uploaded on to it piecemeal by interested individuals – all of which can be viewed through CCM’s website via the YouTube provided there. For those interested, video clips individually of all 20 songs from our Teen Murti performance on 29 Sep 2011 are available there for viewing and listening.
Finances
The financial health of CCM is not as good as it should be ...the ongoing effort to get Tax Exemption relief under sections 80G and 12A is still on. It is hoped this matter is resolved earliest. I take this opportunity to thank our Treasurer Ashok Bhatia for ensuring proper accounting with the help of Gopal our auditor.
Membership:
With the growing popularity of CCM there has been a steady increase in the number of singers joining CCM. It is not uncommon now to witness an attendance between 70 – 85 singers at our routine rehearsals. Our mailing list for regular CCM singers and the “Friends of CCM” extends to people spread all across the world. Apart from the multiple logistical problems this increase throws up, this also reflects our growing musical capability, positioning and goodwill in the music community; which is heartening. We keep receiving mail from ex-CCM people in India and abroad continuously encouraging us : our thanks to them for their affection !
Farewells & Felicitation:
During the period under report CCM continued their tradition of partying with gusto along side their zest for making good music. The farewells accorded to Gabriela and Imre Lazar were enjoyable and memorable. The camaraderie and friendship prevalent among CCM-ers old and new is legendary and enviable.
Over the years CCM has been lucky to perform under the baton of many wonderful conductors, including our current conductor, who have given of their best with dedication and selfless endeavour. We remember them fondly and thank them profusely wherever in the world they are presently and pray for their well being. May their ability to produce music with amateurs like us, and their ability to enthral music lovers across the world never die!
Life has its vagaries – and so it is imminent that one or the other of our members has to leave in answer to what’s ordained for them for the future. We have bid farewell to many such who are singing with us no more for various reasons. It is gratifying to note many of them still keep tab from corners of the world and are in touch with CCM through the internet or otherwise. We wish them the very best and hope they will continue to remain in touch; and maybe one day come back to sing with their choir once again.
Last but not the least is to acknowledge and thank all those silent or not so silent workers (Committee Members, and others within or outside CCM) whose contribution to the overall health of CCM is immeasurable and often not accountable. May God Bless them all.
2.11.2011
Maxwell Pereira, President CCM
2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008