Last month, on the 9th of August, I attended a very special concert of the Bombay Chamber Orchestra (BCO), which was held at a different venue, for the first time - the Ravindra Natya Mandir in Prabhadevi. The Orchestra was joined by 'The Cathedral Choir' for this concert, and together they performed 'Requiem in D minor' and 'Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major', by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Latin.🎶
This concert was specially significant to everyone associated with the BCO, because it was a 'Tribute Concert' to Ms.Jini Dinshaw, who was the founder of the Orchestra, on what would have been her 96th Birthday. She had passed away, in October '2025, at the age of 95.
I didn't know Ms.Jini personally; but for almost 3 decades, I had seen her on stage, playing with the orchestra, every time I went for a BCO concert to the Tata Theatre. In the last few years of her life, when she couldn't play with the orchestra, she was always in the audience, sitting on the first row at the NCPA, enjoying the concerts till the age of 95. It was wonderful to see her there, year after year, encouraging the orchestra that she had started, decades ago, right till the very end.😊
I started going for the BCO concerts, when I was in college. A close friend and both her older brothers, used to play in the orchestra back then. So, I went for the concerts, to listen to them. I didn't really listen to a lot of Western Classical music, till that time. Going for these concerts, was my introduction to a genre of music, that I didn't know much about.
Over the years, my friend moved to a different country, to pursue her studies, and eventually settled down there. I however, continued going for the BCO concerts occasionally, whenever I had other friends from my choir, or my students, playing in a particular concert, or singing in the choir, that was performing with the orchestra...and each time I went, Ms.Jini was always there.💕
I met many friends and an old student too, in the audience, on the day of the concert, which were all very pleasant and happy surprises. The most unexpected surprise though, was meeting that same college friend's parents, and one of her brother's families, because her brother was playing in the orchestra again, after a gap of 14 long years, just because this was a Trbute Concert to Ms.Jini, who had been their teacher. All these lovely surprises, made this concert special for me also.😊
Ms. Jini has taught many, many people in our city, to play the violin, the viola and the cello; and another friend from my choir, whose entire family used to play in the orchestra, a few decades ago, was also in the audience that day, to celebrate the music teacher, who had encouraged her and her siblings to play, and to learn how to play new orchestra instruments too.🎶
I meant to write this post last month, but had to be away for a little while, due to a death in the family. I guess, I was supposed to write this post, just a day before 'Teachers' Day'.😊 Ms.Jini Dinshaw was never my music teacher, but if you read and hear the countless heartwarming tributes, in the concert booklet, and on the BCO online page, they are all filled with such beautiful little stories, anecdotes and unforgettable memories from her students, who will forever be grateful and indebted to her, for the role she played in their respective musical journeys.🎶
'A teacher truly affects eternity. You can never tell, where their influence stops.'✨️❤️
Jini Dinshaw
August 9th, 1930 - October 23rd, 2025
The Bombay Chamber Orchestra Guest Conductor from Austria - Ernest Hoetzl
The Soloists:
Farah Ghadiali - Soprano (Mumbai)
Tanisha Herbert - Mezzo Soprano (Bangalore)
Kersi Gazdar - Tenor (Mumbai)
Tatsuo Kondo - Baritone (Japan)
The Cathedral Choir
Conductor - Mario Nazareth
Since the BCO performed this concert at a different place this time, I got a chance to see an auditorium in the city, that I haven't been to before - The Ravindra Natya Mandir, at Prabadevi, Mumbai.
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