A Classical Christmas - An Evening of Carols and Ballet

Performing Arts
Music, Dance
Performances
Wednesday, 20th December 2023
From 7:00pm to 8:30pm (IST)
300

Details

Step into the heart of this year’s Christmas festivities as you unwrap a musical gift brimming with a melodious blend of timeless solo and choral music intertwined with the graceful elegance of beloved ballet classics.

The exquisite evening, directed by Sandra Oberoi, features soloists Tiana Oberoi and Tiara Oberoi joined by The Harmony Chorus, accompanied by Avinash Grubb on the piano. Immerse yourself in the thrilling harmonies of Britten's Ceremony of Carols and, among others, Christmas music from Handel to Rutter. Witness dazzling ballet favorites from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker performed by the Lewis Foundation of Classical Ballet making this evening a sonic and visual Christmas extravaganza to warm your heart and touch your soul.  

Join us in celebrating the spirit of the season coming alive, where every note is a gift, and every movement is a dance of joy.


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A Classical Christmas - An Evening of Carols and Ballet
A Classical Christmas - An Evening of Carols and Ballet
A Classical Christmas - An Evening of Carols and Ballet
A Classical Christmas - An Evening of Carols and Ballet

Faculty

Tiara Michelle Oberoi

Tiara Michelle Oberoi

Featured Artist

Tiara Michelle Oberoi  Winner of the Commonwealth Prize for Composition in 2020, Tiara Michelle Oberoi's piece, Lacrimosa has since been performed around India and the UK. A, actor-musician, Tiara is in her final year of Musical Theatre Studies at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Placing second in an international vocal competition, she was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in 2017. India's youngest Licentiate (ALCM) in Musical Theatre, she brings her knowledge of music and acting to her performances making them nuanced, technically sound and memorable. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiara.m.oberoi/

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Tiana Oberoi

Tiana Oberoi

Featured Artist

Tiana Oberoi18-year-old soprano from India, Tiana Oberoi, a Scholar at the Royal College of Music in London and winner of several Classical singing competitions including India's topper in the ABRSM singing exams, most recently won the prestigious NATS NSA in San Diego competing as the first ever international qualifier. Having trained at Harmony-the music school since she was four, Tiana won a place at The Purcell School for Young Musicians for her sixth-form and then a scholarship to continue her vocal studies at RCM under famed soprano Amanda Roocroft. She was invited to sing at the Westminster Abbey for the Commonweath Observance Day in 2023. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiana.oberoi/?hl=en

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Collaborations

Royal Opera House, Mumbai
Royal Opera House, Mumbai
Royal College of Music London
Royal College of Music London
The Harmony Chorus
The Harmony Chorus
The Lewis Foundation of Classical Ballet
The Lewis Foundation of Classical Ballet
Furtados
Furtados

Press Coverage

A Classical Christmas - An Evening of Carols and Ballet

A Classical Christmas - An Evening of Carols and Ballet

Sunday, December 17, 2023 Mid-Day
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Carols on Pointe

Carols on Pointe

Sunday, December 17, 2023 Mid-Day
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Catch Carols, Ballet And The Magic Of Christmas On-Stage

Catch Carols, Ballet And The Magic Of Christmas On-Stage

Tuesday, December 12, 2023 Free Press Journal
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An evening of carols and ballet

An evening of carols and ballet

Tuesday, December 19, 2023 Indian Express
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Blog

Story of the Carols

Carols have been sung in Europe for thousands of years. They were earlier known as pagan songs and were sung at the Winter Solstice celebrations and other four seasons but today only the tradition of singing Christmas Carols, also called ‘Noels’ has survived. The word carol is derived from the Latin word ‘choraula’, which means a dance performed in a circle accompanied by songs of praise and joy. The earliest carol written in 1410 was about Mary and Jesus meeting various people in Bethlehem. Official carol singers called ‘waits’ went from house to house during the medieval times before carol singing in churches became popular. The term wait was used as they sang on Christmas Eve, also known as ‘watch night’ or ‘wait night’.



History of Ballet

The term ballet stems from the Italian word “ballare” which means “to dance”. The history of ballet dates back to the 15th-16th century Italian Renaissance courts. Catherine de Medici of Italy introduced the dance style into the court life of France when she got married to the French King Henry II. She organized grand festivals that encouraged Ballet de cour, a program that included dance, decor, costume, song, music, and poetry. King Louis XIV also performed the popular dance style and the term ballet was officially codified in French. The opening of a dance academy in Paris in 1661 led to the movement of ballet from the courts to the stage by 1681. French and Russian ballet developed their unique stylistic characters, inspired by Italian roots. Ballet continued to evolve with new looks and theatrical illusions with new trends of fashion during the 1850s in Russia when the country became a leading centre of the dance world.


Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols

Benjamin Britten was a leading British composer of mid-20th-century music. He was an outstanding pianist and conductor and his operas are considered among the finest English operas. He composed the Ceremony of Carols in around March - April 1942. It is inspired by a book of medieval poetry called The English Galaxy of Shorter Poems by Gerald Bullet that Britten found in Nova Scotia during his sea voyage on the Axel Johnson, a Swedish Cargo ship, in the thick of the Second World War. These eight carols are bookended by statements of the Gregorian chant “Hodie Christus Natus Est” and midway through the set is an astounding interlude for harp solo that features this same plainchant tune.


Nutcracker

The Russian composer, Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky, a civil servant joined the Saint Petersburg Conservatory to study music at the young age of 21 during which he wrote Nutcracker, a unique music composition with ballet. He is well recognised for his compositions of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. It opened in Saint Petersburg Russia in 1892. The German fairytale titled "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" is the inspiration for Nutcracker. The story is about a young girl Clara on an adventure and a life-size nutcracker that has come to life. They both travel to mystical lands while fighting the mouse king.

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