Dr Graham’s Homes choir performs at the RCTC grounds on Wednesday. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Circle of Life remains their signature tune and Maa Tujhe Salaam their most popular song. This time round, the repertoire of Dr Graham’s Homes choir included harder stuff like Call me when you’re sober by Evanescence and Numb by Linkin Park, to complement the carols.

Whatever their track list, the choir singers from Kalimpong’s unique “children’s village” — founded in 1900 by Scottish missionary John Anderson Graham — never fail to hit the right chords in Calcutta.

The Rising Stars in Concert (earlier known as Children’s City in Concert) series has come to symbolise the kick-off bars of the city’s winter festivities. And the cheer the Kalimpong kids spread was never more welcome, in these terror-stricken times.

“To see these children perform with such passion and grace is like a balm in these troubled times,” gushed an elderly woman, with tears in her eyes, after Saturday’s concert at The Tollygunge Club.

The undisputed rising star of the cast this year — the group’s ninth city sojourn — was Prayash Biswa Karma, a child prodigy who mesmerised the audience with his rendition of Vivaldi on the violin. Prayash, not yet 10, was discovered at a reception in September and has since been inducted into the school.

His solo performance at all the three venues in the city — the St Paul’s Cathedral, The Tollygunge Club and the racecourse — drew the loudest applause. He was gifted a violin by an admirer and special lessons have been organised for him under the tutelage of the Calcutta Chamber Orchestra.

Another high point was the auction of a cricket bat autographed by the Indian cricket team at the Tolly show.

“The kids were so fabulous, they made me cry, and when I learnt many of them are orphans, it reminded me of my childhood. I lost my father early,” said Manfred Theodor Steinkamp, the German businessman who picked up the bat for Rs 2.5 lakh and donated it back to the Kalimpong school.

“This year has given us two milestones. Jigme Thinley, an old boy of the Homes, was elected Bhutan’s first Prime Minister and Roy Storey, now 83 and living in the US, was honoured by outgoing US president George W. Bush for his work with underprivileged children,” said M.J. Robertson, the president and chairman of the board of management of the Homes.

Another old boy, Norman Hutchinson, the painter who was left at the Homes when he was four months old, was the guest of honour at the Rising Stars’ racecourse concert on Wednesday.

“Calcutta gave us the first platform to express ourselves and over the years, injected us with the confidence to hold our own before huge audiences. This stood us in good stead on our maiden UK tour last year,” said choirmaster Shane Saviel.