Students were absorbed in the melody created by the well-acclaimed Shillong Chamber Choir, who visited SMART Campus in November 2018 for Leadership Lecture Series that turned out to be a brilliant session. Besides tapping on some great tunes, the students received invaluable lessons conveyed by the lead singer of the choir, William Richmond.

It was the value of humility and teamwork that Mr William spoke about in length. The session became more interesting as he made it interactive. By throwing open questions to the students, he invoked students’ views on their understanding of humility and pride. He praised the school’s strong value system as students candidly spoke about these moral issues.

Shillong Chamber Choir is a multi-genre choir found in 2001 that rose to fame after winning the reality TV show India’s Got Talent in 2010. The choir has performed at many great platforms like the opening show of Amitabh Bachchan’s Kaun Banega Crorepati, at Rashstrapati Bhavan for US President Barak Obama and Michelle Obama during their state visit and other prestigious locations at Europe, UK, Canada, North America and South East Asia. The choir has also teamed up with music maestros like Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Usha Uthup and Ustad Zakir Hussain on tabla to create some great music.

The choir comprises 25 members out of which five were present for the LLS. All the members shared the stage with student representative and answered questions pertaining to how a choir works and what goes behind their success. The choir members unanimously agreed that it is their teamwork and ability to take each other’s criticism that has kept them going.

Last but not the least, at the request of the students, Mr William sang numbers like “we will we will rock you” and “you raise me up” and children joined him by singing and tapping their feet.

The LLS ended with a loud applause for the choir as students, teacher and staff thoroughly enjoyed the session and took away valuable lessons from a choir that has come a long way.