PARANJOTI ACADEMY CHORUS CELEBRATES 50 EVENTFUL YEARS OF COOMI WADIA’S CONDUCTORSHIP

PARANJOTI ACADEMY CHORUS CELEBRATES 50 EVENTFUL YEARS OF COOMI WADIA’S CONDUCTORSHIP

Mumbai, November 2017: The Paranjoti Academy Chorus, one of India’s oldest and well renowned choirs, has been in existence for more than half a century, having performed globally and under the baton of Coomi Wadia for the last 50 years. To celebrate this successful and credible milestone, the Paranjoti Academy Chorus is all set to perform a revered concert featuring Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass along with the SOI Chamber Orchestra and soloists Valentina Marghinotti – Soprano, Margherita Tani, Mezzo-Soprano, Sorab Wadia – Tenor and Eugenio Di Lieto, Bass. The concert will be held at the Tata Theatre, NCPA at 7pm on November 28th 2017. Commenting on her musical years, Coomi Wadia says, “My journey as a Conductor has been extremely challenging, rewarding, exciting and fulfilling, as I look back with a great sense of accomplishment to the last 50 years. There have been many wonderful experiences, but the key highlight, an event to remember, was the "Partner Singen", a Festival of the Sister Cities of Stuttgart, in 1981. At the finale of the Festival, I had the honour and privilege of being chosen from conductors from all over the world, to conduct the finale with 14 choirs, comprising over 600 singers.” BALOS was founded by Dr. Victor Paranjoti in 1956, and from this group, the Paranjoti Chorus was formed in 1960. This was the first Indian choir to go on a concert tour of Europe in 1961. Since then, the choir has participated in many more concert tours and competitions in Europe, USA, the Middle East, Japan, Philippines and South Korea, besides performing in major cities all over India. Its vast repertoire ranges from 16th century music, to works by contemporary composers, spirituals and folk songs, performed ‘a Capella’ and most often in the original language – to date, 22 languages. Besides having in its repertoire compositions by Paranjoti, the chorus encourages other Indian composers to write choral music, and to make arrangements of Indian folk songs. The well-known Indian composer, Vanraj Bhatia, has written three works especially for this choir – Rudranaam (in Sanskrit), Jaisalmer (in Gujarati) and Six Seasons (in Hindi). These works had their World Premiere in Mumbai, prior to being performed on concert tours all over the world. KEY MILESTONES: In 1991, the choir had the honour of being invited by Pandit Ravi Shankar to perform his compositions in the “One India Show” along with other Indian musicians. In 2000, the choir performed, at the invitation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in the Global Event – the World Festival of Sacred Music, in Bangalore. In 2009 and again in 2011, the choir was given the honour and was invited to perform for the Christmas Concerts held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, for the then President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil and other dignitaries present. In 2013, the choir performed at the opening ceremony of the World Zoroastrian Congress in Mumbai, in the esteemed presence of the then President of India, Shri. Pranab Mukherjee.