Born on November 29, 1938, Luis Saturnino Cota hails from the village of Santa Cruz, in Tiswadi taluka, which has nurtured and groomed many tiatr personalities and musicians. One of nine siblings, with three brothers and three sisters, he was fortunate to receive the basics in music from his father, late Jose Santana Cota, who served as a choir master at Holy Cross Church in the village.
“While serving in the parish church,” informs Cota, “my father enthusiastically taught the village children how to play the cello, double bass and the keyboard. He later formed a 12- or 16-member band where all the trained students had the opportunity to showcase their talent.”
Initially, Cota learnt the solfeggio and violin from his father, followed by the clarinet and saxophone at the age of 21-22 at the parochial school.
Recalling those laborious days, Cota says that the journey to name and fame was not at all easy. Due to financial constraints, while schooling at Don Bosco High School, Panjim, he would cover the distance between home and school by foot. He would leave his house at 7 am and reach school in an hour. After a tiring day at school, he would return home by 2 am. And soon after lunch, at 3 pm, he would walk to the Academia de Musica, which was situated next to Mary Immaculate High School in Panjim.
“At the academia, the solfeggio classes would last for an hour while the practical session on the violin would be another one hour,” he states. After returning home from music classes by 5 pm, he would sit down with his school studies.
“During that period, the tuition fee at the Academia de Musica was Rs 10 per month, but my parents could not afford it.Understanding the financial constraints in the family, after government approval, the teachers exempted me from paying the fees,” he reveals.
In 1953, Cota received training in solfeggio and violin at the academy for almost 10 years and having garnered confidence in music, he later joined the Goa Police band in 1961. During his service there, the concerned authorities generously permitted him to go to the academy twice a week and gain mastery in music.
In 1983, Cota sought voluntary retirement and gave up his services in the Goa Police band. He took up the task of teaching village children wind instruments like saxophone, trumpet and clarinet, besides the violin and keyboard. Simultaneously, he would travel by bus to Rachol Seminary in order to train young seminarians.
Cota’s entry in the tiatr field happened when the youth of his village started presenting their tiatrs for festive events. “During that period, one particular community would stage their tiatrs on the beaches, without written scripts due to illiteracy. The entire concept would be there in their minds and they would share it with their fellow tiatrists,” he informs.
He shares that earlier, electricity was a rarity and tiatrs were staged with the help of ‘patromax’, mostly in hilly villages like Bambolim, Cacra and Navxe. “As the involvement of womenin tiatrs was a taboo, men would dress up as women and present their tiatrs with much zeal,” he says.
Cota’s entry on the professional stage came about when he received invitation from noted tiatr directors Tomazinho Cardozo, late Fr Freddy J da Costa, late M Boyer and others. “Initially, it was my dad who would go to play the violin and the double bass and I would accompany him on the saxophone,” he shares.
After his father, Cota’s accompaniment on the saxophone followed with late Luis Rodrigues from Ribandar, who was well versed with the trumpet. He also played with Aleixinho Fernandes and Luis from Mapusa.
Prior to switching to tiatrs, Cota along with his father served as choir masters at Immaculate Conception Church, Panjim for almost 17 years. “During that period,” he explains, “there would be two choir masters in some churches. In the absence of one, the other would fill in.”
Cota has performed as a musician for over 500 tiatr directors. “At that time, the remuneration was merely Rs 25, which was later raised to Rs 50,” he states, adding, “Today, a musician gets paid Rs 1,500 per show and if employed for scripting notations, then he gets an extra Rs 500.”
Today, Cota’s son, Nolvert, who mastered the nuances of music from his dad, accompanies him for tiatrs. His daughter, Ninette, was keen in learning the clarinet while schooling at Mary Immaculate High School. “But unfortunately, she had a fall wherein she lost her front teeth and gave up the wind instrument. All the same, she learnt the solfeggio and picked up the keyboard; she continues to render her services in church.
In the Cota family, all four brothersand two sisters are musicians, with one, Fr Bernard Cota, who is a priest, presently serving at Our Lady of Saligao Seminary.
“Today, nobody gives any importance to wind instruments; everyone wants fast money by forming a one-man band with the help of a keyboard,” reveals Cota. “A five-man band is a must in a tiatr and extra musicians add additional taste to music, thus appealing to every listener,” he asserts.
“The youth should learn windinstrumentsas tiatr is growing in leaps and bounds and the demand for musicians is on the rise.But learning should be more with solfeggio and not merely by ear or natural musical inclination,” he advises.
For his immense contribution towards music, be it for weddings, musical shows and tiatrs, Cota received the prestigious Goa State Cultural Award in 2010-11 from the Directorate of Art and Culture. He was also the recipient of Tiatr Academy of Goa’s Lifetime Contribution Award in 2013. As part of 125 years of tiatr, the 125th Tiatr Celebration Committee recently felicitated him with a memento and shawl.
