The stage was set, the acclaimed musicians were performing, the Museum Theatre reverberated the sweet music and the audience came alive as the curtains went up! Yes, 20th July 2019 was an unforgettable night that commemorated the 5th Anniversary of the Noel Foundation.
The concert was hosted to help raise funds to help little children hailing from disadvantaged backgrounds with congenital heart ailments, get treated. This is the objective for which this NGO was established and has been tirelessly working towards it.
The most distinguished and leading cardiologist Dr. Robert Cohello graced the occasion and gave a brief introduction on congenital heart ailments. The presentation was not only informative but also raised an awakening in the minds of the audience on the alarming need as well as measures we could take as a society in its eradication.
Eminent artists enthralled the audience with their soul-stirring songs. Most of the musicians are well-known artists from the film industry, which includes legendary flutist Mr. Naveen Kumar who is best known for his collaborations with Academy-Award winning music composer A. R. Rahman, who has contributed immensely to the Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu film industries over the years. The other eminent players were:
Karthik Devaraj, a well-known keyboard player in the film industry who plays for A. R. Rahman and for most of the Television shows.
Steeve Vatz on Bass Guitar, is a busy session artist and also a live musician. He has played for most of the music composers in the industry including A. R. Rahman & Harris Jayaraj.
Daniel Kiran (on electric guitar), a music composer, an arranger and a session artist who works for the Kannada film industry. He has won many state awards and appreciation for his background scores and programming. He has worked for more than 200 feature films.
Sidharth Nagarajan (on Acoustic Drums) is a young session artist and live musician who plays for many bands. He won a doctorate and set Limca world records as a child prodigy. He regularly plays with Stephen Devassy.
The incredibly talented Opera singer, Shekinah Shawn who is a fellow of the royal Trinity College, London and has more than 300 Concerts to her credit apart from western classical opera singing. Her voice can change dramatically to meet what is required like semi-classical, Ghazal and other genres. She has also been awarded FTCL (Fellow of Trinity College, London) in Singing.
The concert also featured popular bands from Chennai, including Augustine Paul’s Octet Cantabile, Voyz Male, Dhwani and Crotchets and Quavers (Children’s Choir).
Founded by Hilda Priyadarshini, a teacher by profession and a mother of a child born with heart ailments, Shaun Noel, Chennai-based Noel Foundation, which has been functional since 2014, is involved in providing moral as well as emotional support to families fighting to save their children born with congenital heart ailments.
This concert is a gaint big leap by the organization to go public. The foundation which had started small with practically no manpower, expertise or resources in the beginning except the sheer determination of Hilda and her husband Sudheer Merugumalla used their adversity in bringing hope to others. The NGO gradually grew with the help of benevolent friends and family over the years and today it has an office, a regular staff and a team of capable individuals from various fields voluntarily extending their help to advance Noel Foundation from their respective homes and workplaces. So far, the foundation has been able to touch the lives of many families but the need is massive. The foundation needs to grow and reach out to many more needy families. According to a recent survey, around 1,50,000 children are born with congenital heart ailments, while only 25,000 of them manage to get treated.
The foundation is thankful to the entire team including donors and volunteers who helped in hosting this concert and spreading the message to a wider range of people.