Bandra's musicians pay homage to their late teacher, Blanche Viegas, in a tribute concert

(From left) Rhys Sebastian and Merlin D’Souza with (centre) their teacher, Blanche Viegas at her home

There was a time when Bandra was a small, charming township built around few communities. In such an age, there were often individuals who touched lives and left an impact across generations. Among them was the late Blanche Viegas. A proficient pianist and Western classical musician, it was her long teaching and accompanying career of over seven decades that left an impact on the city's music culture. Tomorrow, her students come together to pay a tribute to their loving Miss Blanche in their old neighbourhood.

"Music was always a part of the Viegas household," shares daughter Blossom Mendonca. As founder director of the choral group, Living Voices-Mumbai, Mendonca has carried on a legacy that began with her grandfather. "He played the violin, while my grandmother played the piano. My father, Raul Viegas, also conducted inter-parish choir competitions, and had an amateur choir, Nocturne amateur choir," she notes. In the quaint suburb of Bandra in the 1970s and 80s, the doors of the Viegas home were always open for conversations, music lessons and choir rehearsals.

Blanche with Mendonca

For Blanche, music became the outlet to one of her abiding passions - teaching. "Even when she moved out of Bandra in the last few years and stopped teaching, she might have forgotten what she had eaten for her breakfast, but she never forgot the details of teaching," Mendonca recalls. Her passing at the age of 94 in 2021 due to COVID-19 was a blow to a community of musicians across generations.

"We tried to host a memorial in the pandemic, but it was online. It was a regret that we could not be with the family during that time," recalls Coretto Crasto, member of Living Voices-Mumbai that Blanche helped with the sectionals and accompanied. The concert tomorrow is a chance to rectify this. Miss Blanche's alumni range from jazz and pop pianists, to conductors and idols as well as teachers at Bharatanatyam schools, Crasto points out.

(From left) Blossom Mendonca, Blanche and her granddaughter Bianca play the piano during a performance

Among them is Merlin D'Souza. The jazz and pop pianist and multi-instrumentalist began her journey as an eight-year-old with Miss Blanche in the 1970s. "It was my sister who was set to join, but I got signed on. I remember I was a bit lazy about my music, and she would scold me. When my father passed away, it was Miss Blanche who took me under her wing and helped me clear the diploma exam," D'Souza says.

Another student, Simone Reis echoes the sentiment. "Her devotion to students was exceptional. She taught us a way of life," Reis shares. She recalls, "Miss Blanche was a champion of the underdog. I remember performing in a large concert hall or the inter-parish zonals was difficult. She was always there to cheer me on."

An early photograph of Blanche playing a piano at home

Mendonca laughs as she reminisces, "It was something I would tease her about that she spent more time with her students than she did with us [her three children]. It took me some time to realise that she was more than just our mother. She was a mother and mentor to them all.'

The concert, aptly so, is a tribute by the students and presented by ‘The Madcaps'. "It was her endearing term for us when we would not get things right, or do something funny," Reis chuckles. The humour apart, Miss Blanche could be strict when she wanted to be. D'Souza recalls her stern warning about Western Classical practice. "When I started to go into jazz, she would warn me to not forget the basics. But she would also encourage me to explore ideas. She was futuristic that way," the pianist says.

Simone Reis

This love is spread across generations. D'Souza's son, Rhys Sebastian also learned under the famed baton of Miss Blanche. "Culture, community and cadence; those were the key points of my experience with her," she remarks.

For Ashita Misquitta, it was the little lessons of life that would follow the lessons. "I have to admit I wasn't the most talented, but I worked hard. It takes a certain teacher to recognise the ability of your student and bring out their best. She helped me stand first in competitions and examinations. Miss Blanche had the ability to connect with children as an equal, by never talking down to them," Misquitta says.

The effect is the rise of a community of musicians and individuals connected by the legacy of Miss Blanche Viegas.

On Tomorrow; 6.30 pm
At St Andrew's Auditorium, Bandra West.
Call 9820032230 (for donor passes)