Choirs on the Coast: Impact of COVID-19 on Musical Pedagogy and Festivals

Abstract

Coastal landscapes inspire their own genre of folk songs and musical instruments intrinsic to the traditions of the local boat people and fisherfolk, often coexisting with a strand of popular music embedded within the modalities of coastal tourism. In post-colonial coastal cities, these strands are part of a larger musical space carved out by the legacies of colonial cultural transmission and subsequent assimilation into aspirational European cosmopolitan tropes. I examine the shifting engagement of Western classical choirs in the context of two coastal cities: Goa in India and Colombo (with a focus on Negombo) in Sri Lanka. Combining in-depth interviews with two choral conductors alongside the predicament of musical production in the digital space, I argue that choral music impinges on a notion of personal intimacy that combines a collective sense of creativity and community, organically linked to Catholic landscapes animated by a ‘Catholic affect’.