The talented keyboardist
By Juliana Sridhar

Philomena Scurville was born and brought up in Royapuram. As she was musically inclined, her parents spotted her talent and enrolled her in a music class where she learned to play the piano at the tender age of 5  from a music teacher named Bella Doraisamy Philomena completed her schooling in St. Kevins High School and later in St. Columbans Higher Secondary School.

After completing a course in Teachers Training, she took to the teaching profession and joined her Alma Mater St. Kevin’s in 1961.

 As she had a passion for music, she also used to take music and singing classes  for the students of her school. Being the head of the dramatics and literary clubs of the school she was responsible for training the students for various competitions and also for broadcast programmes over All India Radio.

Philomena married Jack Scurville, a Short Term Commission Officer in the Indian Army (who later worked for Standard Chartered Bank) in 1969 and has four children – two sons and two daughters. Philomena says that she took breaks from her teaching career to raise her 4 children.

The family shifted from Royapuram to Mylapore area around 39 years ago. Though a parishioner of Our Lady Of Guidance parish in R. A. Puram,  Philomena chose to sing in the Santhome Cathedral choir. Later, she began playing the keyboard for the English choir of the Cathedral for the 10 a.m. mass.which she has been doing for the past 25 years. For her, age is just a number and this just turned octogenarian has her plate full with many activities.

Earlier, she used to take keyboard classes for children in the locality and train them for the Trinity College of Music exams but doesn’t have time for it now.

She is an active member of the Catholic Women’s Fellowship and earlier held the posts of Vice President and Secretary.  Currently, she oversees the computer classes and spoken English classes held for the underprivileged girls and women at the Santhome Cathedral premises. These classes are conducted by the CWF to empower women and are free of cost.

She is also a member of the Salesian Cooperators of St Bede’s unit and is on the lookout for new members to join the unit.