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WeekendsatKNMA ft The Capital City Minstrels
WeekendsatKNMA ft The Capital City Minstrels
WeekendsatKNMA ft The Capital City Minstrels
The Capital City Minstrels, Delhi’s premier performing choir, returns to KNMA on Sunday, May 21, for an evening of stirring music for the soul.
The Capital City Minstrels (CCM) will be singing a selection of contemporary sacred music: evocative pieces including a magnificent composition of the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic “Abun D’bash’Maiyo”, the tender melody of “You are mine”, the uplifting “You Raise Me Up”, the immediately recognizable “Amazing Grace”, and more. Conducted by Nadezda Balyan, and accompanied by pianist Nise Meruno and cellist Arina Sharma, CCM performances always treat audiences to a wide spectrum of choral music and this repertoire, takes you once again on that journey.
About The Capital City Minstrels
The Capital City Minstrels comprises people of all ages and nationalities and from all walks of life – students, musicians, doctors, lawyers, architects, teachers, development professionals, corporate executives, diplomats, and others. Set up in 1994 in New Delhi by Zohra Shaw, the choir celebrated its 25th anniversary in November 2019. Over this time, CCM has performed more than 350 concerts at prestigious venues around Delhi, various destinations in India and Europe, entertaining audiences with a wide repertoire - from the earliest choral music to the entire spectrum of western classical music; opera, ballads, folk songs, Broadway tunes, rock, pop, jazz, as well as choral arrangements of Indian music. The choir has performed at embassies, concert halls, auditoriums, cathedrals, historic monuments, Government of India events, and for the President of India. CCM has collaborated with international choirs like Le Beau Soleil from Switzerland, the Mixed Voices from Germany, the Yale Schola Cantorum and Juilliard415. The choir has done three European tours, the most recent in June 2018 in Edinburgh, Belfast, and London.
About the Conductor
CCM has been conducted by conductors from across the world, and is currently under the baton of Nadezda (Nadya) Valeyrevna Balyan. Born in the Russian city of Tula, Nadya holds a Bachelor’s degree in Piano and Choir Conducting from the Tula Music College, also known as Dorgamizhsky, and a Master’s degree in Music Theory and Choir Conducting from the Moscow State University of Art and Culture. She is a successful multi-tasker, running her music school, the PianoForte School of Music and Art, in Noida; conducting several popular choirs in India over the years, collaborating with the Neemrana choir for nearly a decade; and currently helming the Delhi Chamber Choir.
Before coming to India in 2007, she conducted choirs of different age groups in Russia. She has worked at the Russian Cultural Centre, New Delhi, as the Director of the Music School. In addition to teaching piano, she organized an all-women choir which performed at numerous concerts in Delhi and other Indian cities, and remains a popular choice for judging choir competitions in India.
