The history of the Malankara Orthodox Church in Chennai is pinned in place with its first home on Stringer Street in Broadway. Here, in a garrison church in 1916 that later became the St Thomas Orthodox Cathedral, the church established a diocese that now encompasses many parishes in the city, and others across Southeast Asia and Oceania as well.
Srope Kadheshe, (meaning ‘voice of angels’ in Syriac), is the diocesan choir of the Orthodox Church, formed in 2010, drawn from 12 churches in and around Chennai. Over the years, they have performed for festivals and church services, singing in one voice, to worship and raise funds for supported charities. This weekend they will be joined by choristers from Coimbatore, Tiruchi and Puducherry for Subaho Smayono, a music concert in a multitude of languages, featuring 235 voices and a live orchestra.
Vinod Simon, choir conductor and secretary, Srope Kadheshe, says, “The choir has been performing for many years, but this is the first time we have 235 voices, an idea encouraged by the bishop of the Madras diocese and president of the choir, His Grace Geevarghese Mar Philoxenos. The orchestra is drawn from members of the Madras Chamber Orchestra.”
Vinod is a chemical engineer and industrialist who has been conducting choirs since 1990. “Music is a passion,” says Vinod, who has been associated with two choirs, Celestial Voices and Dhwani, an eight-member ensemble. “This concert is to raise funds for Sneha Bhavan, a home for family and care-givers of patients at CMC, Vellore, and other senior citizen projects. We hope that this will help the building of more rooms and amenities,” he adds.
Since June, Vinod has had his work cut out for him — amalgamating the voices of the choir from different churches. “Since they were already choristers, it wasn’t too hard. This is also an encouragement for choirs from churches of far-flung areas such as Avadi and Tambaram.”
The 235-voice choir features nearly 165 women. The choristers are aged between 13 and 72 years and are drawn from a cross-section of people — students, academicians, doctors, software engineers, homemakers and bankers.
Likewise, the repertoire for the evening is drawn from across the musical canon – Greek chants (especially one that is composed by St Nectorius), Syriac songs (the staple of the Orthodox Church and featuring those sung on Easter Sunday), English songs such as ‘Shout to the Lord’, ‘How Great Thou Art’, and songs in Malayalam. “Most songs will be sung in four-part harmony and the concert will also feature some non-religious music. The orchestration is by Father John Samuel and musicians Jim Sathya and Augustine Paul.”
The concert will also feature the one piece of music that the audience listens to standing because tradition and the beauty of it demands it — everyone’s beloved ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ from Handels’ soul-stirring oratorio, Messiah.
The concert is on October 29, 6pm, at St Thomas College Auditorium, Koyambedu. For donor passes of ₹1,000, ₹500 and ₹250 contact 9677281839 or 9940249126.
