At The Strangers’ Choir, all you need is love for music and harmony

On Sunday morning, around fifty people gather at the Apparo Galleries, trying to find comfortable spots on the chairs, stools and the floor to settle in for the next three hours. At the centre is a keyboard, and musician and vocal coach Medha Sahi drifts around in an unhurried loop. We are a group of strangers, some confident and excited, and some, mostly nervous about the prospect of singing and transforming into a choir of strangers. “I’m glad that all of you are here and ready to put yourselves in a vulnerable position,” Medha laughs.

Earlier this year, Medha started The Strangers’ Choir in Goa when she really wanted to sing with a group of people. “I sent a text to this community art group I am a part of in Goa and asked if anyone was up for coming together to sing. I was so overwhelmed by how enthusiastic people were since I got ten responses immediately. Eighteen people however finally showed up and this is how it started; with a bunch of strangers who were willing to take a chance on an idea that did not exist,” she says.

There are no auditions and no prior music experience is needed to be a part of this experience
| Photo Credit:
S Poorvaja

The idea here is simple. Medha announces the dates for every city she is to visit, and has people sign up to be a part of this pop-up choir. I find myself in Chennai with a group of strangers, many of whom including me have absolutely no music experience. There are no auditions here to fear, and all one needs is a love for music, something people here seem to have in abundance. “In Chennai, you will find the best singers,” a participant proudly tells Medha, who is very impressed with our initial vocal warm up with‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’.

There is a slow but sure lowering of inhibitions here after the first hour. People are getting to know their neighbours (Medha strictly forbids people from sitting next to people they already know), and there is palpable excitement when we get our song for the day — ‘Pink Pony Club’ by Chappell Roan. After a few chaotic minutes of figuring out whether we are high, low, or medium on the pitch scale, we are divided into groups to learn the song.

Medha says from experience, she has seen how quickly people come out of their shells when it is a large group. “You can barely hear yourself sing, so you aren’t acutely aware of what you sound like,” she says. As we learn the lyrics and sing after her, Medha’s energy remains consistently high. “I always tell my students and my choir that the silliest person in the room will always be me. So, you can do whatever you want, and I feel like this sort of puts people at ease,” she laughs.

Singing as a group does put us at ease, and we are mostly amazed at how well we all sound together as a group that doesn’t know each other. Having travelled across the country to cities including Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi with the choir, Medha says the energy of each city is different. “Whether it is the number of people who turn up, or the venue or even the local food I get to enjoy after, every city has been an adventure,” she says.

Medha is hoping to take The Strangers’ Choir to more cities in the coming months, and a second season will see another visit to Chennai as well. “Music is such an inherently human quality that it just exists with everyone, and this is what I think the choir is all about. The joy of music is something that doesn’t need to only be experienced by people who are trained, gifted or talented; it is just something that makes us people,” she says.

An hour and a half of practising later. We are all ready. Medha begins playing the song on her keyboard, and a room of fifty voices sings back with full gusto. “Pink Pony Club, I’m gonna keep on dancing at the Pink Pony Club.” We are all smiling at each other, snapping our fingers and stamping our feet. Not really a group of strangers at the end of it all, and one step closer to becoming fearless singers.