RIP Neil Nongkynrih: Mentor, Musician & Voice of Shillong

On Wednesday evening, 5 January, the renowned musician passed away in Mumbai, where he had gone to record an album. He was 51 years old.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

"I personally think one has to live up to the name and I'm looking forward to that," Neil Nongkynrih, mentor and founder of Shillong Chamber Choir (SCC), had told The Quint after he was conferred the Padma Shri Award in 2015.

Neil's choir had shot to fame after winning the reality talent show, India’s Got Talent, in the October of 2010. Since then, the musical troupe had performed extensively in India and toured across Europe, the UK, Canada, North America and South East Asia.

On the evening of Wednesday, 5 January the renowned musician passed away in Mumbai, where he had gone to record an album. He was 51 years old.

His brother-in-law, in a statement, told the press:

My brother-in-Law, Neil Nongkynrih, of Shillong Chamber Choir passed away about 6 PM today of septic shock brought about by a perforated ulcer in Mumbai. Kindly pray for the family.

From Learning Music to Teaching it

Born to former minister A H Scott Lyngdoh and Elvirial Nongkynrih in July of 1970, Neil gravitated towards music from a young age.

At the beginning of his adult life, Neil took his first steps towards a professional life in music and left Shillong for Great Britain, where he studied music at Trinity College and attended the Guildhall School of Music in London.

After staying overseas for fourteen years, he returned to India in 2001. A musician who was now well-versed with his craft, Neil began giving piano lessons in Shillong, and went on to establish the Shillong Chamber Choir.

Padma Shri Awardee & The Voice of Shillong

Consequently, under Neil's mentorship, the SCC gained popularity and the he was bestowed with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, for his contribution to the world of music.

Reflecting on what the honour meant for his home state in 2015, he had said, "I guess this music, and what we're doing, has made people more aware of the northeast and made them realise that we're not just about guns and military, and do have some beautiful things happening here as well."

The Quint's Tridip K Mandal, who had worked with the late musician on several projects, expressed that Neil's passing is a 'huge loss for Shillong, for Meghalaya and particularly, for choir music in India."

I have personally known Neil since 2012, when we did a music video with the SCC during Christmas. That time I was with CNN-IBM... My association with him has been for almost 8 years now. On multiple occasions, the Shillong choir has worked very closely with The Quint, have done music videos for us and made videos during lockdown. It’s a huge loss for Shillong, for Meghalaya and particularly for choir music in India.

Tridip K Mandal

In a tweet, the senior journalist mourned the death of a friend saying, "there was much more to him than just music."

On Wednesday, the Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad Sangma iterated that the country had lost 'a gem.'

"I am saddened beyond words by the sudden demise of Padma Shri Neil Nongkynrih, founder of the famous Shillong Chamber Choir. He was a mentor to the country’s finest choir that serenaded crowds wherever they performed. We have lost a gem today," the CM tweeted.

Later in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mourned his untimely death and expressed condolences to his family and admirers.