Bengaluru: “I never thought I would sing English songs. Even my parents are pleasantly surprised,” says eight-year-old Abdul of Cox Town Government School. He is one of more than 200 children from government schools preparing for a grand concert on January 26, which is being hosted by the Bangalore School of Music (BSM) as the culmination of its Outreach Project for 2016-17.
The aim of the project is to reach out to children from economically and socially underprivileged backgrounds and introduce them to the joys of choral music. The children have been undergoing training every week for a year.
“We want to offer equal opportunity to all. So we go every year to several Kannada-medium schools in Bengaluru and enrol students in our Outreach Project. In the process of teaching them music, we also help them learn the English language,” says Rebecca T. Colaco, outreach co-ordinator, BSM.
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This year, under the tutelage of BSM faculty members Sheba Kurien, Avin Chemmanoor, Abishek Gnanaraj, Chinglang Roumon, Bettina Amacher and Rebecca T. Colaco, students from Vatsalya Charitable Trust, Sukrupa Children’s Home, Ark of the Rainbow School and the Cox Town Government School were selected for the project.
Stella, a shy 13-year-old from Sukrupa Childrens’ Home in R.T. Nagar, is excited to be on stage. “I am on cloud nine. I will definitely continue my music lessons,” she says. For eight-year-old Bharath, the music classes have been a sort of escape from a turbulent childhood.
Titled ‘Love Changes Their World’, the concert will see children singing, playing the tambourine, shakers, triangles, drums and keyboard. “Children would also perform body percussion and dance,” adds Ms. Colaco.
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Started 20 years ago by late Aruna Sunderlal, founder of BSM, the Outreach Project has benefited over 7,000 persons over the years.
“This year, as our expenses have increased, we were funded by bio-pharmaceutical company Biocon,” adds Ms. Colaco.
The performance will be held in Guru Nanak Bhavan at 4 p.m.