JoeGoaUk Tiatr: Cruz de Sanvordem

Cruz de Sanvordem

Cruz Marceline Coutinho 4.5.1951 - 3.6.2021

Musical Maestro Cruz de Sanvordem
By Keith Armando Gomes
in Navhind Times, Zest 31.1.2015
Hum it and he shall play. Cruz Marceline Coutinho who is better known in the tiatr fraternity as Cruz de Sanvordem and in his village as ‘Mr C M’ has a passion for music unlike you have ever seen before. He says; “the more I play, the younger I feel.” Cruz might have found the solution to mortality, it is his music which has given him life he says and his only purpose is to share this joyous art with as many as he can. It was this desire to share that led him to tiatr and has now brought him to the point in life where he holds close to him the ‘Lifetime Contribution to Tiatr award” which has been bequeathed upon him by the Tiatr Academy of Goa.
Born on May 4 1951, Cruz is sixty-four years old and sounds more spirited than an eighteen year old. He commences his tale, “I was born in Curchorim, Goa. It is a small village in Morailem. It was here that my father, Joao Coutinho, was the choir master in the Guardian Angel Church. My father had put me in the choir and here I was noticed. People would ask around for the toddler with the deep voice, and that was me. I was so happy. This part of my life is significant because it was at church that I saw my father play the violin and looking at him I learnt to play.” Cruz didn’t attend any lessons for music, he says that music just came to him naturally; he simply picked up on the violin. He continues, “After my father’s death, sometime around 1975 I received a job at the Goa Government Education department in Porvorim. By this time I had left the church choir and wasn’t really playing much music. It was my brother, Benjamin Coutinho, who gifted me a trumpet and encouraged me to play. On October 2, 1977 there was a cultural program in honor of Ghandhi Jayanti at Curchorim. Over there I played the song ‘Blue Spanish Eyes’ and received a thunderous applause. The public response was so encouraging that I began believing in myself. I knew I could do it.” He continues, “After this I got the opportunity to work in multiple Khell tiatrs. I remember how we would walk almost seven kilometers while playing up to the place where the tiatr would take place. During this time I even acted in the local village tiatrs and even wrote a few short plays.” Who wouldn’t have known that this man would climb heights at such a pace, “I was soon discovered at one of Jose Fernandes’ khell tiatrs and before I knew it I was playing for big tiatrists from Bombay. I recall working with Lino, C D’silva, Crismina, Premanand Lotlekar and even Roseferns.”

With utter humility, Cruz says, “I had dreamt of serving Prince Jacob and in 1922 my dream came true. I was playing in almost all of Prince Jacob’s tiatrs. And since 2005 I have been the music director for Menino de Bandar.” Cruz plays the violin, keyboard and trumpet. He is a recognised musician who has played in many states like, Meghalaya, Bombay, Goa, Assam, Haryana, Chandigarh, Kerala, Cochin, Delhi, Calcutta, Rajasthan and many others. When asked what the purpose of his work is he, answers, “An artist must always, till his last breath, entertain people.” Cruz while sharing a traumatising incident tells of the hardships of life, “There was this one time when I was on my way to play for one of Prince Jacob’s tiatrs. On my way, during the warm afternoon, I began feeling drowsy. I must add that on that day I wore a helmet which is something I normally don’t do. I was riding when suddenly a deep sleep took over me and I rode off the street and into the bushes. Prince Jacob soon learnt of my accident and came for me. They took me to the hospital and to everyone’s surprise the only troubling result of the accident was a series of headaches and nothing else. Furthermore, I knew my responsibilities so even after the stern disagreement of my doctor, the next day I still went to work. It was hard, but that is life.” He shares as an afterthought, “God has saved my life many times, and I thank him for it. This also has made me believe that there is some purpose to my life and so I do not stop playing.” He shares with us the struggles of his time; “We chose to face hardships in our days. Musicians like me would play at tiatrs from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., reach home by 4 a.m., take a nap till 7 a.m. and then wake up and head for work. We walked for miles and even with sound systems which were not as advanced, we made the best we could and entertained people.”

Cruz finally sheds light on the subject of the present, “Today tiatr has changed, it has been improved in many ways and so have the musicians. A lot of new directors and actors have come and are entertaining people. Contrary to our times, today Tiatr is a fully fledged profession; people can actually make a living off it. What I would offer as advice would be for musicians to practice because it is true that practice makes perfect. One must be ambitious and shoot for the stars for only then can you achieve great heights. And remember that music is food for the soul, go on and feed some people.” Cruz concludes this enjoyable conversation by saying, “It is the appreciation and love that I receive from the people that compels me to play. I thank everyone and especially Tiatr Academy of Goa for the honour given to me. May God bless all.”
Source: http://www.navhindtimes.in/musical-maestro-cruz-de-sanvordem/

Sunday 21 February 2016

Cruz de Sanvordem

No comments:

Post a Comment