A Conversation exploring Lorraine Fiona Aloysius’ Journey to Bring Music to Nirvana

Despite her family not being professional musicians, Lorraine Fiona Aloysius was raised in the midst of music. With her grandfather playing the violin alongside practicing medicine in Africa, to her mother’s brothers playing musical instruments, Lorraine’s own mother – Helen D’Cruz (a popular singer in the Konkani circuit) inspired her to take up Western music from a young age. Lorraine first started with playing the Piano at the age of 8, and has since then moved onto teaching, sending thousands of students for exams conducted by world renowned institutions such as Trinity Guildhall/Trinity College London, Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, U.K., London College of Music, U.K., and RockSchool, U.K.

Lorraine herself is a Licentiate of the Trinity College London (Pianoforte), a recipient of the 2012 ‘Karmaveer Puraskar’ by the iCONGO (International Confederation of Non-Government Organisations), and is currently the CKO and the Creative Director of Lorraine Music Academy.

Sitting down with Shilpa Sonal, Lorraine Aloysius maps her journey from Mumbai to Gurgaon over the past 20 years and delves into what the future has to hold for her Academy. She was also joined in conversation by Lorraine’s husband, Aubrey Aloysius.

How did you get into music and why?
I come from a musical background. My mother was an All-India Radio singer, and she’s probably more famous than me [laughs]. The Catholic community knows her, everyone in Goa, Mangalore, and across the globe among the Indian Diaspora would know my mother – Helen D’Cruz. My mother cut an HMV record with the famous Bollywood Singer Hemant Kumar in the Konkani language. My mother’s family learnt Western music, but she couldn’t learn as her father passed away when she was very young, and it was very expensive. But because of that she always wanted us to learn. Western music can be written out and played exactly as per the composer’s wish and hence is very easy to practice. Indian music, though very advanced and more improvisatory, needs a Guru to be sitting with you for every session of learning. I started learning informally with my mother, both Indian and Western Music. She has an excellent ear, and she would just sing a tune, and I would pick it up and she would say, this is right, that’s right. Even though she didn’t play the Piano, she taught me a lot of Music. She has influenced me a lot and continues to do so even today.

What role should parents play today then?
I think parents do their best trying to be non-judgmental, but they end up being judgmental. I think basic music education should be accessible to everyone, and there’s a lot of evidence that music makes you do very well in academics. So that’s one reason why music should be encouraged, especially the Classical forms. When I meet adults, often they feel bad that they did not have the opportunity to learn or they gave it up because teachers discouraged them, or were strict, or they made too many mistakes, or they weren’t as “talented” as those around them. So many times, people tell me – ‘no I can’t sing – because my teacher in school never picks me, she says no you’re not in the choir, you’re not in the band.’ That is not correct, if we are human, we can sing. You can train your voice, and you can train your ear. So, I believe music is for all.

Why did you start your academy in Gurgaon?
We had a business we were running, and we had to take a break since we could not deal with the corruption that we encountered as we were growing. We pondered over our existing pool of talents between Aubrey and me, and in that process, we were led to focus on Music Education. I had a talent in music, but Aubrey didn’t want me to teach just a single student. He said only if you want to teach a million students, should you start teaching one. So, he was the visionary behind the company and behind setting up the Lorraine Music Academy. Today, we have taught more than 10,000 students. We are on our journey to teach the next Million, and beyond.

So, what brought you to Nirvana?
We were originally in DLF Phase-4. But being in Nirvana gave us a lot of visibility, and proximity to people who realized the value of the Piano and getting into music being available to them at their doorstep. We opened in Courtyard, we were in Birch Court, and we had two centers in DLF Phase IV. But the Nirvana community was very forward thinking from the start and realized the importance of musical education for their children. Our first set of students from Nirvana in 2010 such as Dhruv Malhotra, Ishika, Yash, Niharika, Shambhavi, Shatakshi set the tone for us from the start – with Dhruv Malhotra going on to be the first student at the Lorraine Music Academy to complete Grade-8 at the age of 12/13. We had a lot of students who not only did very well in music, but also academically. But now we have no physical centers, we are absolutely online. We will get into a hybrid model in the near future.

How does this online teaching work for Music?
Lorraine: In the present, we have employed people who come online, and they teach all the instruments. We do instruments, like the Piano, Guitar, Violin, Drums, Ukelele, and Singing – everything is possible online. We have a few offline interactions also, but we have students from all over the world – USA, Canada, Netherlands, London, Dubai, Kuwait, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia. And these are students not just doing Grade 1 or 2 in music, but also those in colleges in London who come for specialized courses to us.

Aubrey: Unfortunately, today’s generation spends a lot of time staring at a screen. So, if you want to take them away from the screen, it’s very important to involve them in an activity which involves the brain and the hands. The Lorraine Music Academy addresses that while building the interest of the child, even with online teaching. We offer a lot of audio-based learning, and video-based learning, which is similar to reading a book on kindle. This mode works because good teachers’ access is limited, and going digital helps us scale up across India and the World. So, we “digitized” Lorraine, and we got into AI and Machine Learning, and are now getting to be a future ready Music Education Technology enterprise. We are still a future-ready work-in-progress enterprise with evolving technology.

Is the focus of Lorraine Music Academy only Western music?
Aubrey: Music is a language. Within that comes what genre, what format. So, we teach music in that manner as a language. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Carnatic or Hindustani or Western or Eastern. We have taught Bollywood music, we have taught Carnatic songs, we have taught Hindustani songs, we have taught bhajans, we have taught hymns, we have taught Christmas carols, we have taught Enka – that is Japanese music, we have had Japanese singers here along with musicians from across the Globe. The way we teach music is to ensure that any child who learns music with us can play any instrument in the future because the foundations are built in a particular way, and then can play any format of music, whether Western, Eastern, Indian, Hindustani or Carnatic. We choose to teach in a particular script like a language which is Western notation because that’s the easiest and that builds the foundations of music best.

What is your dream going forward?
My dream is that every home in Nirvana learns music. Many parents feel that their children have less time when they’re in the 10th or 12th grade. But I disagree, they learn to manage – they memorize better, they concentrate better, they regulate their emotions better and it’s a stress buster. Mental health is very important, and they’re so stressed out – and music can just charge you up in such a way and give you a lot of balance.

So, what do you want to start now, next for the Nirvana community?
We are going to open up singing for everybody. They can come and sing, I’m just going to announce it. We’re going to start community choirs in Nirvana. This will be a combination of online and offline. We would like to introduce music to those who are probably hesitating or not coming forward, like I said every house in Nirvana should learn music – whether Western or Indian or anything. We do Indian music and Western music. And we have so much talent in Nirvana. Not just our students, but even adults and senior citizens. But they need to know that music requires commitment. We can only teach those who are committed. It’s not like you come for one month and you stop and then come for one month. We only have long term programs. Our programs are very affordable. Because it may be long term but overall, it’s a fraction of what you eventually gain.

AN XMAS CAROL: CHOIRS TO BRING JOY TO THE WORLD
(Article in Hindustan Times, New Delhi, Sunday 19-December-2021)
– Anjuri Nayar Singh

Set to echo in the city this year are the merry tunes of carolers, bringing hope amid the pandemic

Reeling under the effects of the pandemic and the constant news updates of the new Covid-19 variant spreading across the world, what is helping to keep the Christmas spirit alive this year are the carol groups in the city. Gearing up to perform publicly or at various intimate gatherings – physically or virtually – they are the true joy that comes to town around this time of the year.

Online stars
Having decided to go virtual, this year as well, Lorraine Music Academy has its plans set. “The pandemic is not over, and there is no vaccine yet for children. Last year, we had a wonderful Christmas concert online and we will have the same this year too, on Christmas eve”, says Aubrey Aloysius, co-founder of the academy, adding, “We went online since the very first month after the nationwide lockdown. In fact, now we do online concerts every Sunday at 5pm, with global as well as Indian maestros. This year, the children are far more confident and have taken to the camera like real stars! They have so much more energy!”

Talking about the line up of carols this year, Aloysius shares, “Our students will be bringing in the Christmas spirit by singing and playing a mix traditional and modern Christmas carols in different languages.” Giving is a sneak peek into their set list, he adds, “Traditional carols include Silent Night, Joy to the World, Jingle Bells, Peace Be Still, Born on Christmas Day, and Mary Did You Know, among many others and also some modern carols, which include some original compositions by our students.”

India observed the 50th Death Anniversary of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on January 11. His son BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Sunil Shastri who was in Goa, spoke to Gomantak Times reporter Mayank Jha regarding the achievements of his father who coined the famous slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’. A documentary on the life and work of the second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri is being made and will be released soon.

Article in Legacy India | (Courtesy : Gomantak Times) | Feb, 2016

MAYANK JHA: What’s your thought on Lal Bahadur Shastri’s career? As a son what was the most influential thing about your father?

SUNIL SHASTRI: The career of Babuji (Lal Bahadur Shastri) was fantastic and had achieved great success during his career. He is remembered for his strong courage and spearheaded progress throughout the nation. Whichever place I visited, people always remember him for his honest work and successful career as Prime Minister. Even as people had seen his leadership quality during India-Pakistan war in 1965 where Shastri’s fighting instinct had allowed us to become victorious. While at the same time he was a peace loving person who had stronghold on his position as a great leader. Because of Shastri’s effort the “Tashkent agreement” has become successful and historic.

The most influential thing about him was his courage to overcome hurdles. During his childhood days, he used to swim the river to reach school. That sort of courage is inspiring all of us.

MAYANK JHA: What is your reaction when you came to know that there would be a documentary made on the life of Lal Bahadur Shastri?

SUNIL SHASTRI: This is a positive step taken by the filmmaker Aubrey Aloysius to showcase the life of ‘Babuji’ on a film screen. This film will guide people and aware them about the work of ‘Babuji’. People will also be influenced by his honesty, simplicity and many other qualities.

MAYANK JHA: How much do you think the film will appeal to the current population specially youths?

SUNIL SHASTRI: I am sure the film will be used as historical evidence to inspire every age group of people. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech at Red Fort had appealed to the people of the country to follow the principles of Lal Bahadur Shastri. After watching the documentary people will be able to know his persona.

The Man That Freedom Sometimes Forgets

Much has been spoken about Gandhi and Nehru as India projected them to the world. However, in the process of celebrating one figure, we often forget another. Attempting to circumvent this precise scenario is ‘Lal Bahadur Shastri – A Hero of War and Peace’, the work of documentary filmmaker, Aubrey Aloysius

Article in Herald, Goa | By Fernando Monte da Silva | 08 Jan, 2016

The oddest chance meeting with someone can spur us on to so much more, much like the Domino or Butterfly Effect. This is precisely the path that unfolded for documentary filmmaker, Aubrey Aloysius after having met and interviewed live on stage the youngest daughter-in-law of Lal Bahadur Shastri, Neera Shastri at an event called ‘A Musical Memorial – Remembering Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri’.

This encounter was one that motivated him so much, that he decided to make a documentary on the subject, and went on to meet  Lal Bahadur Shastri’s sons, Sunil and Anil several times, who guided him and provided him with valuable insight and information during his period of research. Aubrey currently has, in the works, a documentary film on Bharat Ratna Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second Prime Minister of India, which is set to be released nationally and globally later this year. Aubrey has also produced a number of cultural events focused on the performing arts in the National Capital Region and has also produced a number of short films promoting national unity and patriotism. Several of these films have been telecast nationally and internationally on Doordarshan. He has also been featured on Lok Sabha Television. Aubrey will also go on to produce a full-length feature film for a national and international audience.

However, in keeping with this, one can’t help but wonder why Aubrey picked to specifically focus on the life of a man who is often unfortunately perhaps regarded as one of the ‘lesser-known’ names of the time. “It was 50 years ago, on January 11, 1966 in Tashkent that Lal Bahadur Shastri passed away. However, to those that remember his contribution to the country at large, he still lives on in their hearts. In many ways, his story is similar to that of President Abraham Lincoln of the U.S.A. who rose from a log-cabin to the White House. Lal Bahadur Shastri’s story is of a modest young boy who was born on the banks of the river Ganga and rose to be a Bharat Ratna. Through his dedication and by virtue of his character, he rose steadily to occupy the highest position in the land,” he explains.

Aubrey Aloysius has interviewed every living member of the Lal Bahadur Shastri family in order to gain a powerful and deep insight into the life of this great man. “The stories that they told me, reduced me to tears. We are talking about a man who put his country first; a man who spent more time in jail than out of it, purely for standing up for what he believed in; a man who lived in abject poverty and lost two children to illness, purely because he could not afford to pay for their medical expenses,” he adds emotionally.

Aubrey, who is also the founder of the Lorraine Music Academy and the LAMP Trust, and Chairman of the National Patriotic Project, talks about the importance of the film to the next generation, saying, “The purpose of this project and films is to reach and impact each of the 1.27 billion citizens of India. It is important that the children and youth of our nation know and understand the life of Lal Bahadur Shastri – his everyday life as a child with meagre means, his struggle to get himself educated, a sacrificial life as a freedom fighter. He was a man of high moral principles, values and ethics, who with integrity and character crossed all bridges and held the highest Indian office with courage, integrity and utmost dignity. He was a legendary leader, successful and blameless both in public and private life. His thoughts and actions need to be perpetuated and carried forward in order that the life of the Indian citizen, and human being at large, can be transformed. His principles, values, ideals and thoughts must be held up as a lamp to India and the world. Even though he died 50 years ago, his legacy will live on forever.”

www.heraldgoa.in/Cafe/The-man-that-freedom-sometimes-forgets/97582.html