A long time ago, this city boasted a symphony orchestra with a history of impressive concerts. Supported by the Calcutta School of Music, this orchestra was conducted by both resident and illustrious visiting conductors. Gradually, and perhaps predictably, like all good things of tradition and culture, it wasted away, diminishing in size and quality, and eventually vanished.

Today, we have the Calcutta Chamber Orchestra, which is struggling to survive against odds such as difficult work schedules and practice timings. However, the spirit of music in this city cannot be quelled. This was proved once again on December 21 at St Paul’s Cathedral when the Roger School of Music presented a student programme of piano pieces, as well as Debussy’s Arabesque, which was played sensitively and competently by the resident piano teacher, Hamish Hussein. There was also a forty-piece string orchestra that surprised and delighted the sparse audience. The audience was surprised because of the unexpected richness of tonal quality, intonation and discipline, and delighted because of the promise the orchestra holds as a growing school ensemble hoping to add a brass wind and percussion section in future.

The young pianists featured in the show were Roshini Biswas, Rajarshi Guha, Riya Pramannick and Pallab Pramannick. They played short, contemporary, atonal miniatures that were very impressionistic — such as the scary Tsunami by Stephen Montague. The compositions were performed with a confidence and competence that reflected dynamic teaching.

The orchestra began with the familiar Air, Minuet and Rondo by Purcell and went on to a spirited rendering of Brahms’s Hungarian Dance No. 4. One would have to be too fastidious about details of phrasing and attack in student performances to not find the over-all musicality good, with a lovely rich sound from the cellos and double bass. The jolly American fiddle tunes, arranged by M.J. Isaac, contained a spirit of youthful exuberance. However, they could have been played at a quicker tempo. Bizet’s popular Can Can was one of the highlights of the programme, as the orchestra played it again for an encore after Hamish Hussein had sung Silent Night in a gentle, mellifluous voice. Finally, Joy to the World was performed to bring in the Christmas season.

The Roger School of Music — named after the late pianist, Roger Radice — was founded by the intrepid Sanjib Mondal, who is also the conductor of the Calcutta Chamber Orchestra. As conductor and teacher, Mondal displays an energetic, passionate and committed approach to his work, and is an inspiration to students and teachers alike.

The discipline and musicianship of the orchestra of the Roger School of Music are evident in its spirit of commitment to good performance. The orchestra promises to progress with each concert, and the musicians have in them the desire and ability to get better. For Calcutta’s music-lovers, this could only mean that there are good times round the corner.