Neil Nongkynrih, famous music composer and founder of the Shillong Chamber Choir, would play the piano on the side while his choir sang in perfect harmony. The choir fondly knew him as Uncle Neil. Usually, it was him who re-arranged the songs, although rarely did they sing pieces of their own.
One song he composed recently was ‘Aatishbaaziyan,’ a ballad for a fundraiser. The song succeeded in raising funds and continues to succeed in raising the spirits of people who listen to it.
The Shillong Chamber Choir went places after it won ‘India’s Got Talent Season 2’ in 2010, a reality show in which people with a variety of talents compete to win prize money and the IGT trophy. They performed twice for the TV game-show Kaun Banega Crorepati, one of which was a medley performance with Amitabh Bachchan himself. They have worked with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and performed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, when Barack Obama visited India, in 2010.
Perhaps their most prominent composition is ‘Vande Mataram,’ a song written and composed by Neil Nongkynrih. The song was made in 2012 and became popular through their second performance for the Grand Premiere of Kaun Banega Crorepati, in 2014. The choir was asked to perform the song when Chandrayaan-2 landed successfully on the moon.
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