Shillong Chamber Choir: Members, Songs, Founder and Story

Shillong Chamber Choir: founded 2001 by Neil Nongkynrih, India's Got Talent winners in 2010, members, songs, school and its 25th year in 2026.

Key facts

Founded: 2001 in Shillong by Neil Nongkynrih; debut at the Pinewood Hotel, 14-15 January 2001.
Founder: Neil Nongkynrih (9 July 1970 - 5 January 2022), concert pianist and conductor, Padma Shri 2015.
Breakthrough: Won India's Got Talent Season 2 on Colors in October 2010, after three golds at the 2010 World Choir Games.
Repertoire: Songs in 40 languages; collaborations with Alan Walker, Boney M, Amitabh Bachchan and Zakir Hussain.
School: Shillong Chamber International School, founded 2010 with 13 students; principal Kynsaibor Lyngdoh.
25th anniversary: Ladakh Festival, Polo Ground, Leh, 26 September 2026, with a new studio album announced.

The Shillong Chamber Choir is a Meghalaya choir founded in 2001 by the pianist and conductor Neil Nongkynrih. It became famous across India after winning India's Got Talent Season 2 in October 2010 with choral versions of Bollywood classics. Its core singers include Ibarisha Lyngdoh, William Richmond Basaiawmoit, Rishila Jamir, Riewbankit Lyndem and Banlam Lyndem. Nongkynrih died in Mumbai on 5 January 2022, aged 51. The choir marked its 25th anniversary at the Ladakh Festival on 26 September 2026 and announced a new studio album.

This guide covers who the members are, the songs to start with, the founder, and how the choir has carried on since 2022.

Who founded the Shillong Chamber Choir

Neil Nongkynrih was born on 9 July 1970 in Jaiaw Langsning, Shillong. Wikipedia records that he moved to the UK in 1988 to study music at Trinity College and the Guildhall School of Music in London. He performed there as a concert pianist and taught music in Oxfordshire, where one of his students was Radiohead's Philip Selway.

He returned to Shillong in 2001 and started teaching piano. Wikipedia quotes a later interview in which he said he had heard the sound of guns in Shillong early that year and wanted to replace it with the sound of music. The choir made its debut at the Pinewood Hotel in Shillong on 14 and 15 January 2001.

ThePrint's May 2026 ground report adds the civic side of that story. Patricia Mukhim, editor of The Shillong Times, told ThePrint that in the insurgency years, when militants kept people indoors on Independence Day and Republic Day, the choir sometimes sang in the open after anti-bandh street meetings in Police Bazaar. "It was how Neil imagined another Shillong," she said.

Nongkynrih received the Padma Shri in 2015, served on the Central Board of Film Certification from 2017, and wrote Sohlyngngem, an opera in Khasi based on a tragic Khasi folktale. He died at a Mumbai hospital on 5 January 2022.

Shillong Chamber Choir members

Wikipedia lists the choir's vocal line-up by section:

Sopranos: Ibarisha Lyngdoh (female lead), Patricia Lyngdoh, Jessica Lyngdoh
Altos: Donna Marthong, Rishila Merang Jamir, Keviseno Terhuja, Dorea Rangad
Tenors: Riewbankit Lyndem, Sandon Melam Lyndem, William Richmond (frontman)
Bass: Banlam Lyndem

ThePrint's 2026 report fills in the people behind those names:

Ibarisha Lyngdoh, 33, auditioned at 11. Nongkynrih had been planning something closer to an all-boys ensemble, and the choir tells the story of how her audition changed that plan.
William Richmond Basaiawmoit, 37, a soloist, joined in 2008 after Nongkynrih heard him sing in his sister's choir.
Rishila Jamir, 37, grew up in Nagaland and studied at St Stephen's College in Delhi. She met the choir through William and moved to Shillong after finishing her studies.
Riewbankit Lyndem, 35, now leads most of the arranging.
Kynsaibor Lyngdoh, 44, sang in the group that won India's Got Talent. He has stepped back from singing and now manages the choir and runs its school as principal.

The Hindu's August 2025 report also quotes Banlam Lyndem as the choir's bass. At a private wedding show at Jaipur's Rambagh Palace, ThePrint counted nine singers in white and seven musicians in black, which gives a sense of the touring unit today.

India's Got Talent and the national breakthrough

The choir won three gold diplomas, in Musica Sacra, Gospel and Popular, at the 6th World Choir Games in Shaoxing, China, in July 2010. Wikipedia notes it was selected to represent India by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

The same year, producer Siddhartha Basu was casting India's Got Talent Season 2 on Colors. ThePrint reports that the choir came to the Kolkata auditions with 13 singers. Basu says that when voting showed the audience admired the choir without fully connecting with it, he nudged Nongkynrih to keep the complexity but make the repertoire travel further. That is where the signature medleys took shape, with "Ode to Joy" placed beside "Aashayein". The choir won the season in October 2010. "We just produced the show," Basu told ThePrint. "They did it all on their own."

What followed, according to Wikipedia:

8 November 2010: performed for Barack and Michelle Obama at President Pratibha Patil's banquet in Rashtrapati Bhavan
December 2010: CNN-IBN Indian of the Year, Special Achievement Award
28-29 October 2011: "Bollywood Leitmotifs Also...", a Shillong concert with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra
March 2013: a Mumbai fundraiser for Rahul Bose's NGO The Foundation, with Zakir Hussain
2016: Global Citizen India in Mumbai, on a bill that included Jay Z and Coldplay
April 2017: the IPL opening ceremony in Kolkata
6 September 2019: their "Vande Mataram - I'm So Proud To Be An Indian" aired live on National Geographic during the Chandrayaan-2 landing attempt

For the wider story of the city's music, see our guide to the Shillong music scene.

Shillong Chamber Choir songs to start with

The choir's catalogue is spread across medleys, live videos and originals rather than a long run of studio albums. These are the best entry points, each tied to a source:

"Yeh Dosti / Ajeeb Dastan" medley (live), with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, on the choir's official YouTube channel. It is a clear example of the Bollywood-classics style that won India's Got Talent.
"Vande Mataram - I'm So Proud To Be An Indian", Nongkynrih's arrangement that National Geographic aired during Chandrayaan-2 in 2019.
"Maria", a Coke Studio Bharat track credited to Osho, Mansa, Arijit, Shillong Chamber Choir and Bombay Brass on Coke Studio India's channel.
"You came into our lives", released on 9 July 2025, which would have been Nongkynrih's 55th birthday. He wrote it with his friend Deelip Kumar Sahu, and Banlam Lyndem told The Hindu the choir had "almost forgotten this song" until a member reminded them.
The 2011 Christmas album made with Zakir Hussain, Usha Uthup and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, which Wikipedia describes as a best-seller.
Excerpts from Sohlyngngem. Three pieces from the Khasi opera were performed at the MTV India Music Summit in Jaipur in 2019.

The Hindu reports that the repertoire now covers 40 languages, from opera and rock to folk, jazz, Hindustani classical and chart hits. It also lists collaborations with Alan Walker, Boney M, Amitabh Bachchan and Zakir Hussain. In 2025, Kynsaibor Lyngdoh said three Bollywood medley videos were due through Saregama between August and October, along with Khasi albums and unreleased songs still "on the shelf".

The choir after Neil Nongkynrih

Several members told ThePrint there is a before and after in the choir's history. Before 2022, the group ran as a centralised, almost monastic system. Members lived together at Whispering Pines, a property at the end of the road in Pohkseh, just outside Shillong, where a chicken shed was turned into a concert room. Nongkynrih drew no personal salary and put the group's earnings back into property, infrastructure and training.

Since his death, leadership has been spread among the members. William put it this way to ThePrint: "It outgrew him. It became bigger than him." Members have married, moved into their own homes and taken new roles. Ibarisha Lyngdoh and Riewbankit Lyndem composed the music for Boman Irani's directorial film Mehta Boys (2025).

The money side is discussed openly. William told ThePrint that Bollywood puts food on the table, and destination weddings, corporate shows and private events now fill much of the calendar. He rejects the idea that this dilutes the choir: "The tree is getting bigger, the fruits are getting more varied, but the roots remain the same."

Shillong Chamber Choir school

According to ThePrint, Nongkynrih founded the Shillong Chamber International School in 2010 with 13 students. Under Kynsaibor Lyngdoh, the school combines formal academics with voice, violin, piano, drama and art. Students have performed with the choir in India and abroad, and new choir members are auditioned from the school and beyond. Wikipedia describes its earlier form as a home school at Nongkynrih's residence. It was later renamed the Shillong Chamber School and had about 20 students in 2016. Urmi Juvekar's documentary The Shillong Chamber Choir and the Little Home School tells that story.

25 years and a new album

Musicplus reported on 7 October 2026 that the choir marked its 25th anniversary at the Ladakh Festival, held at the Polo Ground in Leh on 26 September 2026, in front of more than 5,000 people. It used the show to announce a new studio album marking the 25 years and played an unreleased track from it for the first time. "Reaching 25 years is a deeply moving and proud moment for all of us," a spokesperson said. More releases and performances are planned through the anniversary year.

For more artists from the region, see our Northeast India bands and artists guide and the Hornbill Festival 2026 music guide.

FAQ

Who is the founder of the Shillong Chamber Choir?

Neil Nongkynrih, a Shillong-born concert pianist and conductor, founded the choir in 2001. He received the Padma Shri in 2015 and died in Mumbai on 5 January 2022, aged 51.

Who are the members of the Shillong Chamber Choir?

Wikipedia lists Ibarisha, Patricia and Jessica Lyngdoh (sopranos), Donna Marthong, Rishila Merang Jamir, Keviseno Terhuja and Dorea Rangad (altos), Riewbankit Lyndem, Sandon Melam Lyndem and William Richmond (tenors), and Banlam Lyndem (bass).

When did Shillong Chamber Choir win India's Got Talent?

The choir won India's Got Talent Season 2 on Colors in October 2010, a few months after winning three golds at the World Choir Games in China.

Does Shillong Chamber Choir have a school?

Yes. Neil Nongkynrih founded the Shillong Chamber International School in 2010 with 13 students. It combines academics with voice, violin, piano, drama and art, and is now led by choir manager Kynsaibor Lyngdoh.

What happened to Shillong Chamber Choir after Neil Nongkynrih died?

The members now share leadership, with Riewbankit Lyndem leading most arrangements. In September 2026 the choir celebrated 25 years at the Ladakh Festival and announced a new studio album.