The song will go on...

Subin Sebastian’s voice is rare. But the world is not kind to the uniquely gifted. As a countertenor, in fact, India’s only authentic and invaluable male operatic voice, Subin often meets raised eyebrows and uncomfortable questions. Sometimes even from well-trained ears. Well, you see, a countertenor is a classical male singing voice with a vocal range of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano.

At 23, Subin is just like any other young person from Mumbai with a job. He travels daily to work, Monday through Friday. Except that on weekends, this English Literature and History teacher is not seen hanging out with friends. Instead, he travels the length of Mumbai to receive training from his voice coach, Minaish Doctor. “I have no weekends off! But then I love what I’m doing and Minaish works hard with me. When I practice at home, people equate it with howling. Once, at a performance which had music aficionados in attendance, I was asked why I was singing like a girl. Minaish is among the handful encouraging few. Else, operatic singing, let aside a countertenor, has an elitist stigma attached.”

Born in a traditional South Indian family, this young man started training in Carnatic music at age 3. “I enjoyed playing the violin and when I was introduced to Western classical at 14, I naturally gravitated toward it. Slowly I realised that I was more comfortable in my head voice than the chest voice. But since a countertenor is quite a rarity, I was classified as a tenor,” reveals Subin. But the more he sang as a tenor, the more discomfort he experienced. Around that time, Edward Mendes, President of the Newman Choir, introduced him to the Giving Voice Society (GVS), an initiative by Mumbai-born British soprano Patracio Rozario OBE FRCM and her husband, pianist Mark Troop.
(Patracio recently sang the British national anthem for PM Narendra Modi on his UK visit.)

And, here was where Subin realised his potential. What his family felt was a culture shock, Rozario and Troop saw as a marvel, a treasure to cherish. “In 17th-century Europe, boy sopranos would be castrated to retain the child-like voice quality,” Subin tells me. Parts were written especially for countertenors, particularly so in the Baroque opera. While the practice of castration was deemed illegal in the 18th century, that rare voice is still revered. “I realised that my case was not just of a rarity of voice, but of a rarity of culture as well,” says Subin.

With GVS backing him and with Minaish’s training, Subin has been performing as a countertenor often. Among his recent performances are Scenes from Opera for GVS and Mezzo Soprano solo for Missa in Tempore Belli by Joseph Haydn for the Newman choir, to celebrate 50 years of their contribution to music. He also sang for the Mother Theresa Awards for social justice. “While largely we don’t find an understanding audience in India, there are some groups that are working towards nurturing opera. We also get the occasional sponsors,” he says, adding, “I am glad to have found my voice. All I want to do now is study abroad where there are specialised courses. Who knows what lies ahead.”