The Sunday Twilight News- Edition 6
Edition 6, 7th November 2021
HORRIBLE TRAGEDY AT TRAVIS SCOTT’S ASTROWORLD FESTIVAL
By Kabir Choudhuri-Khan
On the annual Astroworld Festival, on November 5th, at least 8 people died, if not more, and more than 300 were injured. The second that the gates opened in the venue of the concert, the crowd outside stampeded in, completely focused on getting close to the stage and in the process jostling and pushing people all around. It got even worse when Scott appeared on the stage, causing the crowd to surge forward with even more vim.
People were barely able to move and started to suffocate. Many people were completely panic-stricken, and people started to pass out. Fans started to call out for the concert to stop, for help, but even after ambulances started to arrive, it took a while for the concert to finally stop, and those who needed help to be aided, since the ambulances were barely able to make their way through the crowd because of the mass gathering. Travis Scott issued a statement later, stating “I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival.”
TRAILBLAZERS - People Who Inspire Us
Miss Tatum D’Souza, Vocal coach/Voice teacher
Why did you pick this profession?
I started singing professionally at the age of 3 in my parents’ stage productions and I trained with celebrated musicians in Mumbai, Goa and at international schools. Given that singing wasn’t considered a lucrative career when I started, I worked in media for brands like Disney, 20th Century Fox, Discovery Communications along with performing. Through this stint in media, I had the opportunity to work on music concerts featuring leading Indian and International artists like Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Shaan, Kailash Kher, Shaggy and many more.
After I had my daughter, having seen and experienced the difference music can make to a child I knew it was time to share this joy with others. I began my teaching journey training my daughter's friends at school for singing contests and helping them pursue their love for music. The children excelled vocally and went on to win all major school competitions. I launched The Vocal Studio by Tatum and there's been no looking back as I continue to share this God-given talent and joy of singing among young voices.
What does a normal working day for you look like?
Most of my days are amazing mini-tours around the world - I start at 5 am with online lessons for my students in the US, early afternoons in South East Asia followed by India and then some days end with Europe. I usually leave the mornings free for my personal vocal training routine and for my partnerships with schools to train their students for annual functions and competitions.
Did you have to study anything specific for this profession?
The common misconception we have with vocal training is that if you’re a good singer you can be a good voice teacher. However voice teaching is a specialised skill set and the person needs to have a complete understanding of the workings of the voice, vocal pedagogy, vocal health and technique. When I started studying music there’s weren’t any schools offering graduate music programmes in India so most of my training here was with private tutors. I then went on to do my Vocal Technique and Musicianship certification programme from Berklee Online College of Music.
While all this was for my personal growth as a singer-songwriter, when I decided to become a voice teacher I trained at the leading Voice Teacher Training School - New York Vocal Coaching and also completed all 3 levels of the Somatic Voicework LoVetri Method (TM) with the vocal legend Jeanie LoVetri. I followed this up with Vocal Health Education from the UK and a specialisation in Child Voice Training with Dr Shannon Coates. I continue to enhance my teaching and keep myself updated by attending voice conferences, workshops and courses from leading institutes across the globe.
What tips and advice they would give to students pursuing this profession
It truly is one of the most satisfying professions and while many called it my ‘mid-life crisis’ I feel blessed to have chosen this path. If you would like to pursue this field start by training with a qualified voice teacher and hone your vocal and musicianship skills. Learn an instrument and try and opt for Music in school if it’s available to you. If not a major, you could select it as your minor. Perform whenever you get a chance, participate in competitions and there are many good short term courses available online as well which you could do along the way to build your portfolio.
Sunday's Special Riddles
Easy- What gets bigger the more you take away?
Medium- What is harder to catch the faster you run?
Hard- I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?
(Give the answers in the comments, the answers would be revealed next Sunday)
Want to contribute to Sunday Twilight? Please mail us at twilightnews21@gmail.com with your poem, story, artwork or anything you would like to share.
Edited and Compiled By: Drishti Sharma