Credit: Special Arrangement
Seven months ago, a group of 20 friends and acquaintances got together to sing in harmony. They were not part of a choir, nor were they rehearsing for a performance. It was simply a gathering of people who enjoyed singing as a community.
“We took inspiration from this concept of a ‘popup choir’ from Instagram. There were various groups doing something similar across the globe and we wanted to experience that too,” shares Sheena Jacob, who along with her friend Madhuri Isaacs started the monthly meetups. It came to be called The Soul Circle Collective (TSCC).
The success of the first meeting prompted them to hold another. As the numbers grew — from 20 to over 100 — they felt confident to continue hosting these monthly popups.
The duo puts out the date for the meetup on their Instagram page along with a registration link.
Madhuri picks the songs based on what works well in harmony and what she thinks will resonate with people.
“I prefer songs that I relate to so that I can translate that into making the session more meaningful. I also like to add a little bit of complexity or layers to the song for adult singers,” Madhuri explains. On the day of the event, the groups rehearse their parts separately, and finally come together to sing in unison accompanied with live music. Since they started, they have covered songs like ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen, ‘Lovely day’ (Bill Withers), ‘I can see clearly now’ (Johnny Nash) and ‘Ordinary’ (Alex Warren). At the next popup (August 2), they will be putting together Radio ga ga by Queen.
Travelling popup
The Strangers Choir, another popup choir, was started by Goa-based Medha Sahi around five months ago. After hosting the first popup in Goa, the vocal coach, singer and lyricist has been taking it to other cities — Mumbai, Pune, and Chennai. The most recent one was held in Bengaluru. Her next event in the city will be held
in September.
Look up @thesoulcirclecollective and @thestrangerschoir on Instagram.