There are so many things to celebrate about Delhi. The Capital City Minstrels, Delhi NCR’s apna choir is indeed one of those. For almost 30 years, they have been enchanting the audience in the capital with melodious choral music.

Who are Capital City Minstrels?

Capital City Minstrels (CCM) is Delhi’s own international choir making all kinds of music. Established in the year 1994 by the pianist Zohra Shaw with a group of enthusiasts from different walks of life, they celebrated their silver jubilee in the year 2019. Choir music is ordinarily associated with churches. CCM brought this joyous genre of music out of places of religion to the stages of Delhi. CCM has performed all over India, Europe, and beyond.

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We have been fans of CCM and have been routinely following their music for about 15 years or so. CCM performs a wide range of music from choral songs to ballads, opera, pop, rock, folk, and Hindi music albums to Ekla Chalo Re by Tagore. Sometimes tranquil, sometimes upbeat; they have never failed to regale us.

The choir members keep changing and new singers keep getting inducted every season. The choir conductor and the accompanist keep changing as well. But we have never been able to make that out – as a team they all are pros.

CCM Summer Concert – 2023

CCM presents new bouquets of songs every year. Their Summer Concert for 2023 was Gabriel Faure’s Requiem and more music for the soul. A Requiem is a composition in memory of the departed. Faure’s Requiem composed between 1887 and 1890 reflects the fear-free nature of death. No wonder, these are regarded among the finest musical compositions and have been performed time and again over the globe.

The full choir – all of over 60 singers performed in full strength last weekend at our very favourite Kamani Auditorium. The auditorium was packed and the old-world charm of the Kamani matched the serenity of the concert. We loved the Prussian blue saris/kurta pyjama dress code that CCM chose for the season. The choir was conducted by Nadezda Balyan with the superb Nise Meruno on piano and Arina Sharma on cello.

The first part of the evening was a collection of compositions from the Requiem. It was something we had not heard before. The beautiful melodies and the rousing music captivated us. While listening to Sanctus and Pie Jesu, we were melodiously transported to a cathedral in Rome.

The second part of the evening was a collection of their popular numbers. In this section, Ave Maria and Abun D’Bash’Maiyo by Neeraj Devraj were goosebumps. We are fans of Devraj and still recall his tenor in Roo-ah from earlier performances. Amazing Grace filled the auditorium with a therapeutic sense of calmness.

The special mention has to be – You Raise Me Up, another favourite that we have heard earlier as well. Yet, it does give us a high every time we listen to it. The choir performed this song a capella. Their energy was such that we did not miss the instrumental accompaniment.

You Raise Me Up was repeated as encore on popular request when the audience joined in as well. The collective voices of almost everyone in that auditorium was a celebration!

CCM Closing Concert at KNMA

One day after CCM performed at Kamani Auditorium, they performed at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Saket. This was their last show for summer season this year and how could we miss it?

At KNMA too, we loved Ave Maria, Abun D’Bash’Maiyo, and the encore – the immensely loved You Raise Me Up. It was a smaller ensemble of singers. Yet the experience was still as big. There were many first-time choir audience here and they were visibly moved.

Their last concert ended in a standing ovation.

The Next Season of CCM

Listening to any variety of music is an uplifting experience. We love choral music because of the unparalleled romantic ring there is to it. As CCM puts it, this is music for the soul. We have taken many with us to CCM’s concerts, with us, or through our posts. Everyone came out looking exalted and had only beaming responses.

If any of you is interested, Capital City Minstrels periodically induct new choir members and you can apply. Also, if you have not heard Capital City Minstrels yet, fret not. They are resuming their next season in July and we look forward to their new bunch of music.