Choral Group SIWJA Charms Crowds at Hospital with Onam Special Music

KOCHI:
With Onam just around the corner, the festive mood caught up with the crowd at the General Hospital here as they gathered in the courtyard for a special music show as part of the weekly Biennale Arts and Medicine programme.
The Onam special was presented by ‘Sing India with Jerry Amaldev’ (SIWJA), a choral group under the tutelage of the renowned Malayalam music director, with his hit compositions forming a part of the day’s repertoire.
Jerry Amaldev, the music composer who has created some of Malayalam’s most memorable melodies, formed the group, which now has 30 members, in 2010 under his eponymous charitable foundation.
The choral group specialises in songs spanning various genres and languages, including Western pop, Christmas carols and of course, the unforgettable film hits of Jerry Amaldev.
The special show for the hospitals patients, staff and bystanders began with a rendition of ‘Lokam Muzhuvan Sukham Pakaraan’, followed by sprightly songs in the spirit of Onam such as ‘Athapoo nulli’, ‘Poove poli poove’, and ’Ponnonam vannu’.
It concluded with the hit song ‘Ayiram kannumaai’ from the movie Nokketha Doorathu Kannum Nattu. A group of 18 singers, accompanied by instrumentalists, from the group rendered 15 songs in all.
Jerry Amaldev, a three-time Kerala State Award winner for music direction, has many hits to his credit including the evergreen songs from his first film Manjil Virinja Pookkal. He is also a regular at the Arts and Medicine programme, an initiative of the Kochi Biennale Foundation, to provide solace to ailing patients through art. It was his third time performing at the hospital.
This Wednesday’s musical treat was the 134th in the series of the Arts and Medicine project that was launched by Union Minister K V Thomas in 2014 and is organized by the KBF in association with Lakeshore Hospital and Research Centre Limited and the Mehboob Memorial Orchestra.