SCC to perform for Barack Obama

After holding the nation spellbound with western chorals and Hindi classics on a TV reality show, the Shillong Chamber Choir will now have a very special audience – U.S. President Barack Obama.

The young group of singers from Shillong, dubbed as the ‘rock capital of India’, is scheduled to perform for the U.S. President and his wife Michelle at President Pratibha Patil’s presidential banquet at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on November 8.

“We have been invited by the Government of India through the Ministry of External Affairs. The invitation came much before we won the reality show,” said Damon Lyndem, bass singer and media coordinator for the choir, which had recently won the reality show ‘India’s Got Talent — Khoj 2’ on Colors TV.

“We have been asked to perform jazz and spiritual numbers. But of course, we would like to showcase our own culture, and so there will be Khasi opera. It’s a big thing. We hope to do it justice,” Lyndem said.

Twenty members of the choir, including fifteen singers and conductor Neil Nongkynrih, will leave for Delhi on the 6th of November. Other details such as the duration of their performance however are yet to be worked out.