Capital City Minstrels

Since grade school, I have sung in choirs:  school choir, church choir, community choir.  In fact, I have sung in every city I've lived in, even overseas!  Some groups have been small, all-women choirs. Others have been large ensembles of men and women accompanied by a full orchestra.  Many people only associate choirs with church.  While my choirs have always sung some religious music - how can you ignore all the classical greats like Handel and Mozart and even the modern composers like Lauridsen and Bernstein who composed beautiful music based on the Latin mass? - I've also sung plenty of secular music like Broadway tunes, rock ballads, folk songs, pop hits, and more.

Erica singing with Capital City Minstrels

Here in Delhi, I joined the Capital City Minstrels in February 2018.  CCM, as it's known, was formed in 1994 with only 10 singers.  It has now grown to over 40 members and traveled periodically to Europe for performances.  Currently, the group is made up primarily of Indian singers, with a smattering of expats from America, England, Germany, and elsewhere.

Capital City Minstrels in concert

This December, we performed a holiday concert on the theme of peace, with songs about the beauty of winter and the hope of the Christmas season.  One song about a moonlit winter's night inspired our outfits of silver and blue.  Yes, that's me in a sari!  I have to give a shoutout to my fellow choir members who helped drape the sari on me beautifully.  I was hopeless at it myself.  At home, I simply wrapped the sari around myself like a mummy so I could get out the door fully clothed.  Then once arriving at the concert venue, I begged others to fix me up appropriately.

Erica with her fan club!

I was lucky to have several of my embassy friends come see me in concert.  I was really touched by their support and praise.  Some of them had never been to a choir concert before!  Below is a short clip of my favorite song from the concert:  "Sing Alleluia" by Sally K. Albrecht.  May it bring you a moment of joy and peace this holiday season.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!