Croon-tide for X-MAS

‘Tis the season! And Christmassy songs only make it that much better. Bengaluru’s all-male a capella ensemble, The Bangalore Men is channeling their happy spirits for a traditional Christmas concert, Carols in the City on December 10 at the Aruna Sunderlal Auditorium. Its conductor, Jonas Olsson lets us in on what to expect from this sound soiree.

Conducted by Jonas Olsson, voice faculty at Bangalore School of Music and coached by Swedish international operatic soprano, Maria Forsström, this concert will feature soloists Anup Abraham Thomas, Nivedh Jayanth, Chinglang Konyak and Jonas with Avinash Grubb accompanying them on the piano.

“In this 75-minute performance, we will be offering our audience a mix of some of the most beloved Christmas carols like Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Jingle Bells, Away in a Manger and What Child is This, just to mention a few. There will be about 15 carols, a couple of songs from Germany and Sweden and some lovely solo pieces,” says Jonas, who drew inspiration for the programme from the yearly carol service at the cathedral of his home town of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Aside of hoping that this would become a traditional Christmas concert in the city, this choir hopes that it will give Bengalureans the warm, fuzzy Yuletide feeling, with  carol classics, jazz pieces as smooth as melting toffee and fun arrangements of well known tunes. “With high quality music, we also hope to send a message of peace and love in this time of unrest,” says Jonas.

The Bangalore Men isn’t new to thrilling the city with their ethereal voices. City folk and their musically-inclined fellows across the country have earlier tuned into their concert series, Simply Schubert, with music by Franz Schubert, male choruses, lieder and piano music.

The group has also collaborated with pianist Natallia Kapylova and soprano Payal John having come together only this year. But for now, they just want you to know that the festive season is truly here and they are wishing you the best this Christmas!