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The Madras Musical Association (= MMA) was founded in St Andrews Church (the Kirk), Egmore in 1893 by European expatriates with the then Governor of Madras as its Patron. It is perhaps the oldest association of its kind east of the Suez. Signor Aloysio an Italian who was the choir director of the Kirk was the associations first choral conductor. MMA was later registered with the societies act and a committee was formed with office bearers’ life members and a full-fledged constitution.
The primary goal of the MMA is to project, perform and propagate western music in this part of the world. Though the choir was the main arm of the association, MMA also presented instrumental music, comic operas and musicals. Musical Stalwarts like Padmashree Dr. L Subramaniam, Padmashree Handel Manuel and Maestro Victor Parajothi have passed through the portals of the MMA. Along with the Consulates in the City the MMA has cosponsored concerts by the legendary Mahalia Jackson, Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, The Golden Gate Quartet, Paradise Island express to name only a few.
The 1st conductor of MMA was Signor Aloysio an Italian. St. Andrew’s Church (The Kirk), Senate House, Victoria Public Hall and Museum Theatre were the usual performing space which later had other conductors like Justice Murray Coutts-Trotter, RJC Martin and a Miss Isles. MMA was was 100% European Band. The World War II affected the band and from then they started to accept Indian musicians in the band. During Lady Papworth as conductor Handel Manuel joined as the first Indian member at MMA in 1939 . He was also an organist and a Choirmaster at St. Andrew’s Church. During 1945 he became the conductor of MMA for the next 36 years. He was also the founder of Madras Philharmonic and Choral Society. Later. He became a role model and inspiration of next generation musicians. Dr. Kalyan Sunramanyam proceeded by Handel Manuel, became the conductor of MMA; during his period only Augustine Paul joined MMA as Librarian (1984). Augustine Paul became Associate Director later director of MMA before taking over from Dr. Samuel Grubb (former Conductor) in 1998. Today he is leading a choir of about 120 members.
The Nucleus of the Association is its choir which has not only performed all over India but also in the International Church music festivals in Coventry in 1998 and 2000 and Chester in 2006 in the UK under the Baton of Sir David Willcocks. One of the highlights of the choir was its performance at the New Castle Torch Relay Ceremony and at the Sydney Opera house in connection with the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, both with a mass choir conducted by Ron Smart and as a cameo of its own. In June 2009, the choir was invited to perform in the International Church music festival in Rome with a mass choir, and on its own for a Papal audience. MMA performed at Olympics in London, 2012 & in 2016 in Vienna won a gold & a silver at the fourth Asia Pacific Games happened in Colombo.
The MMA choir has staged musicals like Fiddler on the roof, The King and I, Hans Christian Anderson, South Pacific and Over the Rainbow - a Collage of hits from musicals to name only a few. The association is deeply involved and committed to fund raisers and has performed a concert entitled “The Wake” for Tsunami victims supported by World Vision, a series of three concerts entitled nostalgia to support the Leprosy mission trust and the Asthma foundation. On Every Monday evening all the choir members gather for practice and rehearsal with Piano accompaniment that haven’t changed over the last 30-40 years.
In Delhi and Mumbai there are a number of concerts by visiting artists and choirs from abroad. But in Chennai and other cities like Bangalore, there are more concerts by local talent than by visiting ones. Chennai is a Western classical music centre in India, for sure. The MMA performs regularly most of their shows are western classically oriented.
Madras Musical Association now moved to the next level by adding a chamber orchestra. This proves that they have a bright future ahed to have their own symphony orchestra very soon. In 2017, Madras Musical Association performed W.A. Mozart's Requiem with 90 choir members and 35 members of chamber orchestra. MMA collaborated with Kodaikanal international school accepting the foreigners to perform with MMA.
The Madras Musical association has survived for over a hundred years through the support of its life membership and active members who are committed to the cause of Western Music in India. From an organization which was a castaway then, with a struggling choir of 6 voices initially, MMA now has a centrally located office and library, a dedicated committee and a 100-strong choir which has won the praises of choral directors like sir David Willcocks, Ron smart and Paul Leddington Wright. The choir has made 5 overseas tours. |
