Choral Music Concert

Experimental Theatre

In collaboration with The Stop-Gaps Cultural Academy.

Eric Mirza, a successful dental surgeon and pianist, was awarded the LRSM Pianoforte -- Performers in 1990, standing first in India that year and winning the BMSO Shield and Adrian Boult Cup. Having trained in Mumbai under Ms.M.K. Suntoke, Ms Norma Gasper and Ms Roshan Chowna and also at the Hochschule fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Vienna, he has given a solo recital and accompanied musicians and singers, including J. Michael Leonard (clarinet and saxophone player). Mirza has been a member of the Stop-Gaps Choral Ensemble as pianist and tenor singer since 2005.

Fareed Curmally, a physician by profession, is an accomplished musician. Having studied piano, harmony and pedagogy with Piloo Maneckji in Mumbai, he received the Bombay Madrigal Singers` Organisation Shield for standing first in India in his final Diploma in Performing, awarded by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. Turning down a full scholarship for professional training at London`s Royal College of Music, he became a doctor (1985). Curmally is a versatile chamber musician and choral conductor, but is also a much sought after accompanist by singers and instrumentalists in India and abroad. He has had successful partnerships with tenor Jean-Luc Drompt and pianist Chantal De Salaberry in concerts in India and Europe.

The Stop-Gaps Choral Ensemble needs no introduction to Mumbai audiences. Hailed as one of the best choirs in the country, this amateur group has performed at various festivals and competitions, winning much acclaim. They sing everything from Bach to the Beatles, they sing in different languages and from memory. Critics have commended the choir`s velvety melodiousness and finely controlled dynamics. Conducted by Alfred J. D`Souza, known for his eye for detail, the ensemble usually has a well mixed repertoire.

The programme includes, �The Tempest` Sonata by Beethoven, operatic arias by Mozart, Puccini, Verdi and songs and choruses by Gounod, Elgar, Adams, Roberton, Wood and others.