“We understand him, his emotions and his slight facial gestures show us what we need to do.” And Rose said, “These kids have sensitized themselves to me more. “Even with his condition, he doesn’t stop, never stops,” a student said.

But most of all, they sang for him with heart and soul. His students opened doors for him as he approached, warmed his food for lunch, turned his music pages. This progressively limited the function of his arms, a conductor’s tool of the trade, and also affected his throat. Rose was adored by his students, who were devastated when he was diagnosed with an incurable neurological disorder, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a debilitating motor neuron illness commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. John Rose, the school’s choral director, was a music teacher at schools for 40 years (the last 15 at this school). Their back story to this performance is remarkable. One of its finest choral renditions is by yet another high school choir: the Cuda Chorus of the Coral Reef Senior High School, Miami, Florida. Of these, the favourite (Google and YouTube indicate that choirs all over America go for it) is “ Balleilakka” from the 2007 Tamil movie “Sivaji: The Boss.” Balleilakka may not be quite Rahman’s best but he set its humdrum lyrics to a fast beat and a catchy tune, which Sperry capitalized on. Sperry has arranged some popular Rahman songs for choirs. Rahman well but most Americans discovered him after he won two Academy Awards (Best Score, Best Song) for “ Slumdog Millionaire.” Sperry is a frequent collaborator with Rahman, and is a consultant for Rahman’s music college in Chennai, the KM College of Music and Technology. The Indian diaspora and Indophiles around the world who follow Indian film music know A.

Most Indian movies are musicals with a dance number or two tossed in amid high drama, very often melodrama. Contemporary Indian movies, though poles apart from the ancient Sanskrit treatise, do the same. The most common form of popular music in India is film music – songs from the movies, and Sperry has not shied away from adapting this form for choirs.Īs mentioned in Part I of this series, the Natya Shastra intertwines drama, music and dance.

Wedding qawali