Shyamak ‘Joel’ Mukherjee (right) and Tajdar Junaid perform with the Guildhall Folk Ensemble

Rearranging Verdi’s Requiem. Tai-chi moves. Performing on the Battersea Barge on the Thames. Shyamak ‘Joel’ Mukherjee did it all during a recent trip to London. The music arranger who was one of the participants of Different Strokes, a music leadership programme conducted by the British Council in collaboration with the Guildhall School of Music in Calcutta, was chosen along with guitarist Tajdar Junaid and vocalist Anurag Dhoundeyal for a continuation of the project in Britain.

The two weeks in London were an experience of a lifetime, says Joel. “The first day we met the Guildhall Folk Ensemble and were invited to perform along with them. Three days later, we were to perform at a concert as guest musicians. The focus was on improvising and we were given three pieces — a traditional British folk piece rearranged for an orchestra of nearly 30 people, a rearranged version of Verdi’s Requiem and another folk piece called Fiddle Castro’s Return. It was brilliant to see the sedate audience at the foyer of the Barbican Centre dancing to our music,” smiles Joel.

September 26 onwards, the three musicians from India participated in the Continuing Professional Development workshop with musicians from diverse backgrounds. “The best thing was that it was so innovative. They asked us to say our names out loud in rhythm as an introduction. And then Paul Griffith, one of the workshop leaders, introduced a pulse, to which we all developed an original piece and came up with different layers of melodic improvisation,” he explains.

The workshop ended with a concert at the Battersea Barge on the river Thames. “It felt fabulous to perform in an alien country and connect only through music. It would be wonderful if we could organise more such leadership workshops in Calcutta,” feels Joel.