A choir and a voice factory rolled into one

Signing of the carol by the choir of CSI Redeemer Church – Anna Nagar on December 15, 2024. This year’s carol service marks the choir’s thirtieth year. , Photo Credit: Prince Frederick

CSI Redeemer Church Choir – Anna Nagar East is a voice factory with an overactive assembly line. The larynx is led through the rites of passage. Upon reaching puberty, the larynx grows and the voices emerge. Each of them is heard eventually settling into a defined character.

On December 15, 2024, when the church’s acclaimed carol concert crossed the 30-year mark – as it presented the ‘Magnificat’ – the ability to churn out voices at different stages of development was on full display. Several generations of voices made up the line-up: the senior choir with people aged 20 and older; Junior Choir consisting of teenagers; and a children’s choir spanning ages 5-12. It was a multitude of voices, sequenced through a punishing practice schedule that required the generous sacrifice of weekend hours.

Along with players of string and wind instruments, it was a 115-member strong choir.

Emmanuel Ponraj, who has led Those Voices for most of those 30 years as its conductor, recalls, “When we started in 1995, there were only 15 to 20 members in the choir.” In 1995 the choirboys were apparently wearing gray hair, a hairstyle that has lasted for at most two generations. Last Sunday, the choir presented a series of hairstyles as encyclopedic as the set of songs presented. It took decades of effort to ascertain the cross-section of the locks.

The Church introduced and perfected a system that guaranteed that no space in the choir would be left empty – well, silent. The system really emphasizes the creation of additional spaces and voices.

“Many people have been in the choir for the last 30 years,” says Emmanuel. “In the beginning, we set up a junior choir which played them songs prepared for them. They cannot connect with the songs sung by the senior choir – and this is a recipe for drop-out scenarios. By providing them with songs they were comfortable singing, we got them interested in church music. In 2000, we started a children’s choir, because many young children were interested in it, certainly with some inspiration from parents who came to us with requests. Children move from one choir to another and thus we have managed to retain more than the full number of singers despite considerable migration due to marriage and transfer due to work. Many youngsters can be seen in this choir which is a rare thing.

Efforts are made to ensure a matching diversity on the other side of the church – that is, in the spaces occupied by the listening congregants.

“Typically, we have something for every ear – classical music, contemporary songs, regular Christmas songs, new arrangements and for variety, we throw Tamil songs into the mix,” explains Emmanuel.

A rigorous practice schedule and regular performances on the big stage make this choir suitable for singing at any time.

“Every Sunday, we sing a special song at the 7 a.m. English service in church. We pick a song based on the week’s theme. Get it ready and sing,” says the conductor. This is net practice for the big day in December.

“That’s one of the reasons we’ve been able to maintain the choir. Every Saturday we meet and conduct practice sessions at different times for children, junior and senior singers. Apart from the Christmas carol concert, the Good Friday concert that we do brings people from outside to our church. For the Good Friday concert, we start practicing from the end of January,” Emmanuel explained, adding that he conducts these vocal practice sessions with the assistance of pianist Hannah Jane. String and wind instruments add grandeur to the choral presentation and the orchestra does not house all the talent.

“The people playing the strings are all professionals. Many of them have been involved with the Christmas concert for 18 years. They are paid a small amount, and it being a church program, they are willing to play for this modest salary. Wind instrument players belong to different churches; They join us to help us.”

Emmanuel says that in terms of choral singing, the church has been playing on a comfortable wicket since day one.

“The church is 55 years old, and we have had a good choir since day one. Arthur Muthiah started it 55 years ago and then it changed hands,” says Emmanuel.

From the December 15 showdown, it is clear that each hand has played the cards it was dealt well.