Little Choir Opens Xmas Season

Hyderabad: A group of 50 children from Little Rock, often described as Hyderabad’s biggest little choir, opened the Christmas season with their concert ‘Love Came Down’ on Sunday night. Families and youngsters filled the venue well before the start, turning the evening into a celebration of song, scripture and youthful enthusiasm.

The first half featured songs such as ‘John 1’, ‘Noel’, ‘Angels We Have Heard on High’, ‘Gloria’ and ‘Born on Christmas’. A mentor-led piece, ‘Because of Bethlehem’, offered a calm interlude before the second half, which included choreography, meaningful skits and interactive games.

Other songs included ‘O Come O Come Emmanuel’, ‘Mary Did You Know’, ‘What Child Is This’, an English medley, and finally ‘Joyful Joyful’, which brought the audience to its feet, especially during the moments when the children rapped with confidence.

Several performers spoke about what the choir means to them beyond the concert itself. Eleven-year-old soprano singer Jason Ishant from Hope UC Church said they had practised for months and that “Christmas felt like it came earlier this year because every rehearsal felt like a celebration.”

Fourteen-year-old tenor Isaac Ethan said he enjoyed the practice sessions as much as the performance. “The bonding, the learning, the conversations about Christ and life and everything in between, that stays with you,” he said.

Sopranos Joshua Samson Paul, 12, and Allu Nathan, 14, said that performing occasional solos gave them confidence despite their age. Soprano Avelin Grace, 11, who also sings at Neil Methodist Church, said she felt at ease among her peers. She explained that she is “not the odd one out here because everyone’s my age and we learn at the same pace and connect relationship-wise.”

Among the most demanding pieces was ‘What Child Is This’, where the soprano line alone carried multiple parts. The audience responded warmly to the choir’s precision, applauding the children as they navigated the transitions.

The conductor for the evening, 20-year-old Abigail Akansha Ebenezer, long-time church and college chorister, said she cherished the responsibility of leading younger singers. “It’s a huge responsibility because an entire choir’s performance rests on my shoulder, unlike singing where you can hide behind a team,” she said. Working with children was “different,” she noted, because they both “bring and take a lot of energy,” before heading back to conduct the next piece.

One chorister described the choir as a space to learn not only music but also life, Christ, discipline and perspective. “You can ask questions about doubts without worrying about being judged,” she said, describing a sentiment she said was shared by many.

India Youth for Christ Hyderabad’s director Ebenezer Devaraj thanked parents for their sacrifices, acknowledging the early mornings, late evenings and holiday practices that went into preparing the choir. Samson Gandhi, executive director of Person to Person Counselling, spoke about the hope in Christ that Christmas brings “amidst all the noise it tends to make,” grounding the evening’s music in its deeper message.

As ‘Joyful Joyful’ closed the night, the standing ovation felt less like applause for a performance and more like a warm welcome to Advent in Hyderabad, carried by the voices of its youngest singers.