On some evenings, music doesn’t just fill a hall, it collapses distance. When 120 singers from Chennai and Kłodzko breathe and sing together, the sound will not only carry Mozart and Tamil folk but also the memory of friendships formed across continents. The Madras Musical Association (MMA) Choir and Poland’s Concerto Glacensis Choir will come together for An Evening of Global Music
The collaboration, though, is more than just a shared stage. It is the continuation of a friendship that began last year, when the MMA Choir travelled to Poland to sing alongside the Concerto Glacensis. “We are thrilled to be in India,” says Katarzyna Mąka, conductor of the Polish choir. “The Concerto Glacensis and the MMA Choir are friends first. My choir has been eagerly looking forward to this tour and it’s a dream come true for us.”
Katarzyna, a Doctor of Musical Arts and an experienced choral conductor, has led the group since 1999. Over the years, the choir has grown into a community that sings everything from Renaissance motets to pop standards. In Chennai, they will join forces with the MMA Choir, an institution that has been central to the city’s musical landscape for more than a century.
For Augustine Paul, Music Director of the MMA Choir, the evening is about discovering common ground. “When the Polish choral music meets the vibrant choral traditions we have here in Chennai, I think something magical is bound to happen,” he says. The programme includes Mozart, Vivaldi, Broadway classics and folk songs, but Paul singles out one work in particular. “Conducting the Tamil song Punnai Marathu will be special in front of my city audience. It’s a fusion piece that incorporates a Polish melody as well, and it shows how music can stretch across cultures.”
That bridging quality runs through the concert. “Music has this immense power to speak in one language,” says Augustine. “You can be anywhere in the world but when given a sheet of music, the interpretation is the same world over. People are essentially the same across countries. Music has this great power to unite people across any boundaries like no other medium.”
Even silence plays its part. “The silence within a piece of music is pregnant with music, and is a beautiful moment for me to decide on the tempo and dynamics of the next phase of sound,” he explains. “In life, a period of quietness gives me an opportunity to catch my breath, assimilate my thoughts and then decide on the next course of action with a calm mind. It has always helped me.”
The scale of this performance, over 120 voices on stage, makes the idea of unity both literal and moving. “Choral music is all about coming together and singing in harmony,” says Augustine. “A choir requires people to blend their individual voices into something unified. Sounding as one. Music doesn’t just reflect unity; it can inspire it.”
Rs 500 onwards. On August 22, from 7 pm. At The Museum Theatre, Egmore.
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