Go Tell It On The Mountain as a disco song, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen performed with a nod to Queen, and several kings instead of just ...
Go Tell It On The Mountain as a disco song, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen performed with a nod to Queen, and several kings instead of just three visiting Jesus Christ after his birth. Those are just few of the several surprises in Come Home Christmas, the new album by Shillong Chamber Choir.
Conceptualised by the choir’s founder Neil Nongkynrih, the December 18 release offers Christmas carols and gospel songs featuring instruments and languages from West Asia.
The tracks include sections in ancient Aramaic, Hebrew, Farsi, Urdu, and Khasi, the first language for Nongkynrih and most of his group. The instruments used include darbuka, ney, oud, duduk, and saz. Additionally, the carols are blended with passages from George Fredric Handel’s mid-18th century oratorio Messiah.
For Nongkynrih, the album is the continuation of the choir’s engagement with popular tunes from films and beyond. Formed in 2001, The Shillong Chamber Choir has performed across the globe. Its repertoire includes popular songs in several languages.
“I have found it very strange that certain sections from my Christian community think we are hell-bound because we are singing popular tunes and I find all the narrow mindedness extremely suffocating, and I don’t often pay much attention to it,” Nongkynrih said. “So now we are...
