Xmas carols with an innovative twist

Lucknow: After a grueling rehearsal schedule for a year, Anurag Daniel, a music enthusiast from the city has come up with a choir that will recite carols in ‘a cappella’ style this Christmas. The choir’s performance at Assembly of Believers Church, Aliganj on Wednesday proved to be a delight for the spectators. Claiming their performance was the first-of-its-kind in the city, the group is now gearing up for more such acts.
Talking about the idea behind his innovation, Daniel said, “I actually wanted to break the monotony of traditional carol singing. But it was a challenge because people are used to listening and singing carols in the classical style. So instead of changing things too much, I added various notes to make it different.”
Anurag conducted a rigorous selection process and hand-picked 25 people from different choirs and trained them in a cappella style of carol singing. He says, “No member of the group is professionally trained in music, so initially, we faced a lot of difficulties in pursuing this style.”
A cappella (Italian for “in the manner of the church” or “in the manner of the chapel”) music is specifically group or solo singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way.