Cambridge choir to sing for Mumbai slum children

A choir from the University of Cambridge will perform for and work with slum children in Mumbai.

Jesus College Choir will be travelling to India in March to perform for and work with slum children as part of an ongoing project with the charity Songbound, which aims to change the lives of deprived children through music.

As part of their commitment to this worthy cause, the Choir are currently raising funds for the charity in strange and wonderful ways: sponsored beard-growing, a fun-run wearing choir robes, cake sales and a fundraising concert in Jesus College Chapel.

The Choir is aiming to raise 10,000 pounds as a donation to the work of Songbound to ensure that their visit might have a legacy for the children they will meet.

"This is a unique opportunity for Cambridge students to make a difference through their music-making," Mark Williams, Director of Music, said.

"We can forget what an enormous privilege it is to live and work in this beautiful city, enjoying all its cultural riches, as we strive for academic and musical perfection, but for the children of the Mumbai slums, the opportunity to sing and work together towards a performance is something that is far from ordinary, and I have every hope that the experience will be a profoundly important and moving one for both them and the students involved."

During this tour the Choir will travel into some of the most deprived areas of Mumbai and perform for the children before leading workshops and teaching the children songs and singing techniques that the group hopes they will remember for the rest of their lives.