Batch 19' of Nathaniel School of Music (NSM) recently held its graduation performance at BFlat, Indiranagar recently.
The batch's 15 students of varying ages and musical backgrounds had worked for the past 10 weeks to hone their talents as keyboardists, guitarists, drummers and singers, which finally culminated into a night that none of them would ever forget.
Songs like Lenka's 'The Show', Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy', 'Coldplay''s 'Fix You', Adele's 'Set Fire to the Rain' and 'With a Little Help From my Friends' by 'The Beatles' were performed, some as solos and some in groups.
In each song, the line-up changed, with the only constant being the batch's only bass student, Navneeth, whom the crowd dubbed 'Bassmaster'.
A few sounded off occasionally, but this was overlooked since it was their first live concert.
"It's been a brilliant ten weeks. For every beginner musician, this is a great entry point. You have to take you own initiatives, but the teachers are part of functional bands and if you show even a little bit of promise, they push you to become a musician," shares Mana Dhanraj, who sang as well as experimented with a pedal board during the show.
The one thing that really stands out about NSM is the fact that they give each student a stage to perform. This fact was even acknowledged by the audience. "It was a rare occurrence because music students with such little exposure aren't usually given a stage in public space. There's a lot of potential in everyone to excel in this field," says Anhad, who attended.
As the evening continued, students acknowledged the music teachers of the school for the tips, techniques and support they gave them.
Jason Zachariah, who runs the school with his mother, shares his perspective.
"A lot has changed since we started. Every batch still results in a concert right after the learning process. But we now have many more teachers, have made it compulsory to perform and even have specialised classes on music theory and home recording," he notes. How does the school help the students take the next step? "Most of them pursue their music careers and some even take up our advanced course. The initiative we take is in terms of contacts and leads — we have a strong alumni group and always have people asking for students to perform," he informs.
The evening ended with certificates distributed to the graduating students, followed by a jam session between the teachers of the school.
DHNS