Producer, Director, Composer, Teacher Stany Baretto to Launch 6th CD ‘Bharatha Mathege Namisona’

Mangaluru : There is nothing wrong to be multi-talented, active and in the same time a generous person. Here is a man in his 50s who is already a Producer, Director, Composer; – and also a teacher by profession for the last 30 years. I call him a “Jack of All Trades”, but everyone knows him by, Stany Francis Baretto, originally from Bantwal, but now settled in Mangaluru with his wife and daughter. I had the opportunity to have close encounters with this multi-talented personality during an early morning interview at his apartment over a cup of coffee/appam and chutney, meticulously prepared by his wife Reema.

Looking at his nature I could judged Stany Baretto is a very friendly person with a generous heart-the way he communicated with me with respect I was very much touched by his kind nature and unbelievable gesture and hospitality. His qualities has made him a wonderful man in the community, and great teacher to his students whom he has taught for the last 30 years. Stany respects everyone with dignity and pride, and is very courteous, kind and friendly to all. He is always ready to help and serve those in need, and he never acts proud of his distinguish teacher post, instead he leads a very simple designation.

Stany Baretto is a man of quite personal grace whose love for the community and his students has made a difference for generations of Mangaluru area Youth and also adults. His way of life that he leads is a precious gift for someone to follow to make this world a better and brighter place. A quintessential husband to his wife Reema, and also beloved father and loving father to his daughter Shibony Andrea, Stany is no doubt a man’s man, as they say, -smart, loving, charismatic, compassionate, kind, generous and above all, selfless.

As they say that “A pen is mightier than the sword”- I think Stany has taken that quote very seriously because he carries four pens in his shirt pocket, as swords whenever he steps out of the house for protection? -that was just on the lighter side of vein. When I asked him what the secret behind always having four pens in his shirt pocket, he replied, ” These pens are antique and they are over 30 years old, and still in writing condition. I use them very often for signing documents and to write my songs- I feel proud to have them in my possession all the time”.

One thing we should appreciate is Stany’s generosity, where he shares his additional income among the community. Every year or so, from the interest money that he gets from the savings account that he has at the financial institution, he contributes to various programmes/projects or uses that amount to fund the release and distribution of his CDs free of cost to music lovers. A very generous and novel idea of Stany Baretto which needs to be commended and applauded. All the five CDs that he released so far, he has donated free to the public, and he intends to do the same with the release of his sixth CD that will come out in the nearest future.

Born on June 14th, 1963, Sri Stany Francis Baretto was a hidden treasure to Late Sri Gabriel Baretto and Late Smt. Concepta Rodrigues of Amtady village, Bantwal Taluk Dakshina Kannada and seems to have been the youngest of his siblings. Being educated at Deepika High school, Modankaup and graduated at SVS College Bantwal, he sought to have completed his B.Ed degree at Government College of teachers education.

A BSc/B Ed graduate, Stany Baretto started his profession as a teacher in 1985 at Milagres High School-Mangaluru run by the Catholic Board of Education, Mangaluru. After completion of his 17 years of service there as a maths and science teacher; in 2002 he was transferred to Padua High School-Nanthoor, Mangaluru which also belongs to the Catholic Board of education. On 19th August 2015, he will complete 30 years of his professional life as a teacher in Catholic Board of Education,Mangaluru. At present he is residing at Sapphire Gate Apartment Sturrock road, Falnir in the City with his wife Reema S and daughter, Shibony Andrea. Reema Baretto works in LIC, and Shibony Baretto is pursuing her I M.B.A. at St. Aloysius College, Kotekar-Beeri.

Stany Baretto seen with his Family

Apart from imparting education to his students, Stany has rendered his valuable service to the society in his own special way. He has composed songs with his own lyrics and tunes, plus he is the producer and director. Without any sponsors he has come up with five audio CD’s of 1000 copies each (one more CD to be released before Independence Day 2015) and donated to the society, with all expenses borne by him. He has delivered meaningful messages to the society through his different varieties of songs.

Stany Baretto’s achievements (CDs composed/directed/produced/donated) are namely : First CD : “Hadona Kuniyona”- Kannada Patriotic Songs, assisted/directed by Rev. Fr Valerian Mendonca on 25—06-2010. all the 1000 CDs were donated to : Sandesha Prathistaana, Bajjodi,Nantoor,Mangaluru; Second CD: “Aicho Sounsar”- a Konkani Social Awareness Songs, also assisted/Directed by : Rev. Fr Valerian Mendonca was released on : 9-01-2011. All 1000 CDs were donated to : Vincent De-Paul society, Milagres Parish, Mangaluru; Third CD: “Jeevith Pinthraitholo” -Konkani Social Awareness Songs was released on: 24-02-2013, and donated to: Milagres Parish Families,Mangaluru;

Fourth CD : “Enthaha Prema Prabhu”-A Kannada Prayer Songs, released: 14-06-2013, and donated to : The schools of Mangalore North and South Zone; Fifth CD : “Krithajnathe Ninage Deva” -kannada Prayer Songs, CD released on 24-01-2014, and donated to : Padua Institutions, Nantoor, Mangaluru. Stany’s prestigious sixth CD “Bharatha Maathege Namisona” comprisng of Kannada Patriotic Songs will be released shortly and will be donated to the society- songs of the 6th CD are available in You-Tube.

Call him a generous man, here is the proof- Stany Baretto has provided his assistance to Milagres Parish that he belongs to through his fruitful support and donations- namely :Singing competition organised by Milagres Parish, Mangaluru twice on two separate years; “Baal Milar Contest” organised by ICYM members, Milagres unit on 24.11.2014. He has also donated Rs 1,00,000 to St Antony’s poor homes,Jeppu, Mangaluru on his 50th Birthday celebration, 14th June, 2013- what a unique and generous way to celebrate one’s birthday. Surely would have brought showers of blessings from God!

Stany Baretto’s absorption of traditional and patriotic songs, not only in the melodic sense but in terms of its simplicity and economy of expression, has helped to develop a style that many of his contemporaries, even admirers, found austere and cerebral. This is contrary to the popular identification of Stany’s love for the people, community and nation, which I believe has masked his status as a composer of genuine originality. His tunes set by him for the songs that he composes, and then sung by renowned and talented singers like Jagadish Puttur, Ravindra Prabhu, Sangeetha Balachandran and many others, and with music rendered by one of the musician,TP Razak make his CDs worth listening to.

Stany Baretto thinks of himself as a storyteller, a dramatist, in his role as composer. ‘You can portray a character, relationships, the mood and atmosphere, and emotions through music.’ Composing tunes for songs is a different craft. Stanly describes it as a ‘brief art form and a brief point of view, lyrically and melodically, that expresses a given moment.’ Stany went on to explain how he ‘feels an obligation to make the song a complete expression in order to make its point and reach people…something they can hang on to’. As an avid listener of songs, I can definitely see where Stany is coming from and I’m sure this applies to many other people.

Following are the excerpts from the exclusive interview with Stany Francis Baretto :

Q :How and when did you get started in the world of composing music or lyrics?

I am a maths teacher teaching in padua high school, nanthur , Mangalore. I wanted to give a lesson to my kannada medium students in 2010. The lesson was mensuration i.e. the branch of geometry that deals with the measurement of length, area, or volume of various geometrical figures. I wanted to give the definition and properties of a solid- right circular prism. To make the lesson interesting one I thought of giving a lesson in the form of a song. Then I have composed a song with lyrics and a tune (chorus as the definition and stanzas as the properties of the prism).And that was my first song liked by my students. From then onwards I have been composing songs and thought of producing CD’s of devotional, social awareness and patriotic in kannada and Konkani and tried to give meaningful messages to the society, and to bring some changes in the society

Q: Who or what inspired you to get into music career?

My students and my teaching inspired me to get into the music career.

Q :What was your motto or goal when you created the first C.D?

I have created my first kannada patriotic album or CD named Hadona Kuniyona to offer to the students to serve as an inspiration to live in amity as true children of Bharat Matha and to foster true patriotism in the hearts and minds of the public, especially the youth and children and prepare them enthusiastically for the independence day every year.

Q : How does your latest CD compare with the first CD?

My first CD was kannada patriotic songs-Hadona Kuniyona and the latest sixth CD is of kannada patriotic songs- Bharatha Mathege Naminsona. All these six CD’s are composed, produced by me without sponsors and donated to the society.Inboth the cases the motto is same as mentioned in question No.3

Q :Do you have any lessons learnt you can share from your experience on the creation of the first CD that allowed you to improve your process on the creation 4/5 more CD?

When my sixth CD was in process, I have tried to improve the quality of songs and to give meaningful messages of different varieties to the society. I have not only composed songs with lyrics and tunes but also directed, produced and donated all the CD’s to the society.

Q :From where do you get the funds to make your CD’s in order to offer them free of cost?

This is my sacrifice to my nation- the money which I have saved from my earnings is utilised to produce CD’s and offered them to the society free of cost. Also I have shared the major share of my earnings with poor and needy.

Q: What do you have to say about who download music instead of buying the CD’s?

I am not saying that they are selfish, but they are interested in listening songs or music which is appreciable.

Q :What is your future vision of your music or CD projects?

I will try to continue the process of creation of CD’s and donation to the society.

Q :How do you decide on composing a song or lyrics? How long does it take to compose a song?

To compose a song there must be a proper theme. It must have a good literature. The song must contain one chorus and maximum two or three stanzas. Better if each chorus or stanza line ends with rhyming words. The duration of singing a song with music should be maximum 6 minutes otherwise the song becomes monotonous for the listeners. The time required to compose a song depends upon the songwriter and music composer.

Q :How do you feel about the music industry these days?

Music industry makes money by creating and selling music. It provides entertainment to the public with profit motive. It’s better if it gives selfless service to the society.

Q : Now that you have finished doing two Konkani and four kannada music CD’s. What are your next plans? Are you someday thinking of creating a English music CD?

My plans ahead are composing Konkani and Kannada CD’s and donating to the society. Since I was born in Karnataka with Konkani as my mother tongue, I have a great passion for Konkani and Kannada. I never dreamt of creating English music CD’s.

Q :Are you confident that your music or your lyrics is liked by music lovers? Do you feel that you have accomplished success in your venture?

Yes, to a considerable extent.

Certainly. Apart from my teaching profession I have ventured into composition of songs and production of CD’s.

Q : What advice would you give to other songwriters or musicians who have never created or released a CD before?

I would like to advise the songwriters or musicians to take the initiative of composing and producing the CD’s highlighting values to be inculcated in the individuals.

Q : Finally your kind words of wisdom to the readers of Mangalorean.com?

Readers must encourage and appreciate those writers and composers of songs or music who have entirely come from different fields. I on behalf of Team Mangalorean I wish Stany Francis Baretto all success in his journey of composing, directing, and producing CDs that mean a lot to the community, particularly students. May God bless him!