WORLD MUSIC DAY 2018. VIDYARANYA SCHOOL. WHAT A TIME IT WAS... IT WAS

     Listening to live music on a Sunday morning is as blissful as life can get, and bliss is the word that best described what the audience at Vidyaranya School felt on the 24th of June 2018; the day Hyderabad celebrated World Music Day.  

     And what a delightful variety of music we heard by a bunch of talented young people who kept us entertained and joyously engaged for two and a half hours. And before we forget to do so, we must thank Nandini Rao of Vidyaranya School, and Joe Koster of the Hyderabad Western Music Foundation (HWMF) for putting together the flawless programming and organisation of this lovely event, and bringing to us in the audience this plethora of local talent that is otherwise not seen, heard, recognized or acknowledged.

     This was definitely the high point of an eventful year that celebrates 10-years of HWMF and its concerts that brought together musicians, listeners, music teachers and has created 

a forum for intercultural musical exchange, and provided a performance platform for local and non-local musicians in a series of concerts and workshops with the sincere belief that music has the power to unite people, propagate pluralism and create Harmony through music.

    

     The first group of twelve young musicians to perform were the ISH Vocal Studio “La Voce” ISH stands for International School Hyderabad and these were students of the school, and they were directed by Iryna Tsarenko along with vocal coach Kathy Coard. They performed nine songs culled from musicals, displaying their skills, singing solos with choral backing, and singing in harmony as a chorus.

     The next to perform, and was perhaps, to some, the most supremely talented pianist of his age, or any age. 12 year old Yash Agarwal, who played Sonata in B Minor K 27 by D. Scarlatti, showing fluent skill and musicianship way beyond his years. He was joined by his 8 year old sister, Kashvi, and they both played 'four  hands', the Allegro from Sonata in C major by W. A Mozart.     

    A group of six, ‘Care & Love Strings’, and their teacher Abhijit Gurjale played some traditional English fiddle tunes, ‘Hunting the Hare & the Fairy Dance’ and also a Minuet by J.S. Bach.  

     Abhijit Gurjale followed this by displaying his finesse on the violin; playing ‘Pugnani Kreisler-Preludium and Allegro’. His beautiful bowing and rich full, smooth sound was world class. He followed up this Western classical piece with Carnatic classical music in which he is also proficient, and it was, to a knowledgeable member of the audience, the first time that he had heard Carnatic music played on the violin with such a gorgeous tonal quality, and with such great understanding of the music.

     Twelve year old Saachi Chennur, accompanied by her sister Sarika Chennur on violin, sang ‘Someone Like You’ from the musical Jekyl and Hyde, her vocal ability, her voice, and interpretation of the song, displayed vocal maturity beyond her years. This was another great revelation of local talent, and what became another talking point during homeward bound discussions of the mornings music.       

Hyderabad Youth Ensemble was next, the 17 member group including the music director Joe Koster, comprised 5 violinists, one cello, a flute, a clarinet, tenor and alto saxophones, two trumpets, two trombones, bass, guitar and drums. And, as Nicole, the Flautist, said, the ensemble comprised of not just the young, but also the young at heart. 

     It was so good to see and hear an ensemble of this sort, possibly for the first time in Hyderabad in many years, and it was such a pleasure to hear this rousing music from the musical /movie ‘Les Miserables’ played with such gusto and zest that was transmitted to the audience that lapped it up with relish.

    Nina Cherla was next, this young lady sang a good competent version of the song ‘One Moment in Time’ accompanied by the Hyderabad Youth Ensemble.

     

Clayton Sheehan, music teacher, and superb musician that he is, sang in his mellow and soothing baritone, a very personal and peerless version of the song written by Paul Anka and made famous by Frank Sinatra, called ‘My Way’. He was ably accompanied by the Hyderabad Youth Ensemble. 

     

     The final act of the day at Vidyaranya School, was Deccan Voices in collaboration with Octafret Music academy, who did a medley of ABBA songs as from the movie Mama Mia. The 23 member chorus of sopranos, altos, tenors and basses was accompanied by bass guitar, drums, guitar and directed by Joe Koster from the piano. The fun songs were sung with enthusiasm, good harmony and balance.

     But their version of ‘Joyful, Joyful’ was a fitting end to the day’s programme, this song partly based on Beethoven’s symphony No. 9, but arranged for the movie Sister Act 2, was performed in a lively rendition that left us in the audience feeling good about having spent a wonderful morning suffused in music that fortified us for the day ahead.   

TINCTURES - AMAN MAHAJAN - PIANO/ NISHAD PANDEY - GUITAR

ORIGINAL MUSIC FOR PIANO AND GUITAR

Concert organised by Hyderabad Western Music Foundation

(first of a series to celebrate the 10^th year of HWMF)

At Alliance Francaise Hyderabad on 3 March 2018

      The concert was like a series of controlled conversations between two good friends who happen to be very intelligent; who discussed their thoughts, feelings, and ideas respectfully and openly on a variety of subjects. They asked and answered questions and exchanged news and information in a way that was civilised and engaging.

     And the conversations were conducted by Aman Mahajan and Nishad Pandey, two creative musicians - in the medium of music.

     It was like two people talking to understand each other, and to create shared meaning.     There was no flirty banter or malicious gossip, arguments, debates or awkward silences, yet there was humour and a lightness of touch to the conversations.

     And what were the conversations about? Well, they were about real and imagined

worlds; a pastiche of sounds from Indian and European music; they created musical conversations and improvised on subjects, pictures, and Zen like tales, they made up melodies on the spot, they entered uncharted and varied terrain and met creatures of those areas, they explored rhythmic patterns and developed themes around them, they conversed about machines communicating with one another, and they played a lullaby for a snake.

     And though the music was very listener friendly and melodious, the music was also very

complex, in the sense that this music could be played only by very advanced musicians who were also extraordinarily proficient at their instruments and had a deep understanding of the theory of music; of compositional technique, of improvisation, and who have systematically studied music.     

      The various techniques that they employed in making the music they made and yet keeping it simple sounding enough for the audience to enjoy as much as we did was the work of genius. And that’s what they were.

     To give you a few examples of what they did, without us realising it:

     In one tune, ‘Patterns’ both the musicians played circular palindromes, i.e. they played musical phrases that are the same played forward and back. Like the word Malayalam, or the sentence ‘was it a rat i saw’, they are the same forward or back. In the same tune, they played these circular palindromes to what is equivalent to a rhythm cycle of 9 beats which was also a circular palindrome.

      In “See you in Berlin” they together harmonised a phrase inspired by Indian music.

      In another tune they used a ‘phasing compositional technique’, where both the instrumentalists play a phrase of music repetitively but in different tempos. Varying the tempos or the tune very slightly but perfectly coordinated, and though simple sounding, and minimalistic it demands a great deal of musicality, musical expertise and intense concentration to do this.

      In one tune, ‘Simple Machines’ they cross phrased chord progressions, this too is not as simple as the tune sounded, and it was a very appealing tune too, in this they juxtaposed simple chords with unusual rhythmic cadences in untraditional ways, more or less like counterpoint, so one could say that they re-harmonised the melody elaborately as only jazz musicians can do to make it sound so good.

     In one of their pieces that was completely improvised; both the musicians  plucked a melody out of thin air and took off and conversed intelligently; it was based on a quote by Thich Nhat Hahn which said “In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change”, this held true for the whole concert, where both the musicians conversed in a true dialogue. Both listened to the other. Both the musicians put in their own point of view, simply, clearly and seamlessly. Both brought in interesting ideas which they formed and changed and agreed upon in a dialogue that was impressive.

     The Tinctures concert, the first in a series of concerts to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Hyderabad Western Music Foundation was always interesting to the audience, and to paraphrase 'Have I told You lately...' by Van Morrison, Aman & Nishad filled our hearts with gladness, took away our sadness and eased our troubles - that's what they did.

Photographs: Joe Koster 

HAIKU POEMS AND INTERPRETIVE DANCE

Happy streak of luck

Haiku and expressive dance

A blissful evening

     It was an evening of haiku poems and interpretive dance. Besides making me experiment with poor unpoetic haiku to capture the pleasurable experience of listening to Kala Ramesh present her own haiku poems, Sunday the 18th of February 2018, at Our Sacred Space, took me on an aesthetic journey way beyond my own reckoning. 

     The graphic imagery of the poetic form of haiku and the impressionistic dance of the three Bharata Natyam dancers, Vrushali, Rama and Manasi sensitively interpreted their visual impression of the haiku in well imagined and choreographed dance, capturing with empathy the allusive imagery of the five elements on which Kala Ramesh’s haiku poems were based.

     Haiku, as we thought it was, was supposed to be a poem in three lines in seventeen syllables or less. But most of what I listened to was much shorter than seventeen syllables. I counted. But the haiku worked. They were authentic haiku. The poems were graphic and inspired and they made me see and think and imagine (this is after I had stopped counting the syllables and gave up my presuppositions). And how well they were expressed!

     Kala Ramesh had divided her poems as from her book of haiku and haibun, ‘beyond the horizons beyond’, into five sections, ‘Panchabhutas’ the five elements. Ether (akash) associated with sound. Air (vayu), sound and touch. Fire (agni), associated with sound touch and sight. Water (jalam), sound, touch, sight and taste. Earth (prithvi), sound, touch, sight, taste and smell.

     Kala Ramesh read a few of her haiku and haibun from each of these five sections of her book. Her poems were supraliminal, evoking within us a response above the threshold of sensory awareness, so our own imagination could take us to the spaces that went beyond the brink of perception while her words acted as guidelines.

     And during the reading, to delineate the space between the haiku, so that we knew that a new haiku was being read, a brass bowl was ting’d like a bell by one of the dancers, this heightened the experience of listening.

     Kala Ramesh’s poems were graphic and clear, and some were tacit and connotative, but all were thoughtful, elegant and expressive. Here are few examples.

From Earth: Prithvi

                    his outstretched hand

                         pins that perfect note...

                    nirghuni bhajan                           

                                     for Kumar Gandharva

                    spotlight ...

                    from within he draws

                    a lilting step

                         for Kelucharan Mahapatra

From Water: Jalam

                     monsoon!

                     the road home

                     rushing to meet me

From Fire: Agni 

                   long day

                   a lizard up a brick wall

                       a limb

                            at a time  

     But the Bharata Natyam dancers, Vrushali, Rama and Manasi, all from Pune where Kala Ramesh lives too, were no less than Kala Ramesh’s haiku in their interpretation of the five elements. 

     Their dance was artful, their movements graceful, and the choreography was creative, intelligent and supremely artistic. The perfectly chosen colours of their costumes; their impressions-in-dance of water, fire or air; their flawlessly synchronised movements; their use of space and time completely coordinated while they danced to music that they had selected that went so well with the intention of the theme. It was so memorable that one couldn’t easily get it out of one’s mind.

     Some of the music they had chosen was - for the opening, a serene piece on flute by Pravin Godkhindi. For Agni, they had chosen a piece called ‘Space’ by Zakir Husain, they had also used a piece by Vikram Ghosh, called ‘Grasshopper’, and then ‘Vande Mataram’, as superbly interpreted by Revathi on violin. Vrushali, Rama and Manasi made a huge impression for their clever, sharply defined interpretation of Kala Ramesh’s ‘haiku of the elements’. Yes it was a memorable evening.

     The best things happen by happenstance

     haiku & imaginative dance

     a rejuvenating renaissance

Photographs: Vikram Chunduru

2ND INTERNATIONAL HYDERABAD JAZZ FESTIVAL 2017

     This year the Hyderabad Jazz Festival was on two days at two different venues.

     The first day 2nd of December 2017, it was on the lawns of the Secunderabad Club. And the second day, 3rd December, it was at the amphitheatre of Phoenix Arena.

DAY ONE

     The 3 bands that played at the Secunderabad Club on the 2^nd, were a study in contrasts. They played music that was so different from each other that even the least knowledgeable about Jazz could hear the difference and know what dissimilar forms jazz could take. From a classical hued set by CRUISE CONTROL ON TRIO (CCO3) that amalgamated elements of jazz-like swinging rhythms and improvisation with classical guitar compositions to make music of an unusual, though transcendent, texture and tonality, to THE BEER PUPPETS, who twisted R&B and Neo Soul - itself an interesting mix of contemporary soul music and Rhythm and blues - with interesting arrangements and improvisation to make it ‘Jazz’ that appealed to hard rock fans in the audience. And sandwiched in between these two contrasting bands was the MATTEO FRABONI "EUROPE MEETS INDIA" QUINTET whose contemporary compositions, arrangements and concept of an unusual quintet sound mixed well with mainstream jazz to create a unique set of driving Jazz that stimulated the mind, body and spirit.

     CRUISE CONTROL ON TRIO (CCO3) – comprising Martin Van Hees - Classical Guitarist & Composer, played a classical acoustic-electric guitar for this performance. Aktas Erdogan - Classical/Jazz Guitarist, multi-instrumentalist & Composer, played a double neck electric guitar with one neck fretless; he also played Turkish flute and an Armenian Duduk. Nello Biasini – Percussion, played a regular drum set.

     All three conservatory trained musicians played a set of not just their own compositions, but music from the classical world and from jazz and pop. It was wonderful to hear such quiet, aesthetic and thoughtful music that balanced confidently between classical music and Jazz.  So the audience were charmed to hear besides the bands own compositions, ‘Fragile’ by Sting, ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’ from the Disney Movie ‘Sleeping Beauty’ that had been turned into a Jazz standard by Miles Davis and played as a solo in classical guitar style with a Jazz swing and improvisation by Martin van Hees. It was also so gratifying to hear a tango in a jazz concert, but that’s what we heard in the band’s ‘Tribute to Astor Piazzolla’ the Argentinian musician and composer, or to hear Cuban rhythms in a composition by Leo Brouwer of Cuba. To hear the surprisingly horn-like, plaintive sound from the tiny Duduk played by Aktas Erdogan in his own beautiful and sadness tinged composition and also in their composition called ‘Waltz for Duduk’, was an extraordinary experience. There were many pleasing moments while the trio played; and throughout, the drummer Nello Biasini was impeccable, everything he did was just right. So creative and such a perfect fit, it was delightful to hear a drummer who was so wholly coordinated and played so appropriately for this singular crossover between Jazz and Classical music, Cruise Control On Trio (Cco3).

     MATTEO FRABONI "EUROPE MEETS INDIA" QUINTET, as described, is a coming together of the artistes from Europe & India. And the music they played was a "voyage" through jazz, classical, Latin and Indian influences, led by the Italian drummer and composer Matteo Fraboni. The rest of the quintet comprised Sharat Srivastava – Violin who has been performing Hindustani classical music for over 25 years and was in the Indian rock band, Parikrama. Rainer Pusch is an internationally renowned saxophonist, flautist, arranger and composer. Aditya Jayakar on Piano is also a composer from Mumbai and performs with jazz musicians in Mumbai. Abhinav Khokhar is a one of the few upright bass players in India who has been collaborating and composing with many Indian and international musicians over the years.

     The closest one comes to describing the music that this quintet played is to say that it was a startling revelation of Jazz as an intercultural collaboration that was open to all influences. Not just that, it was inventive, and it was swinging.

     Most of the compositions were by Matteo Fraboni except two, and one of them, ‘Jai Ho’ was arranged so that it was transformed into an extraordinarily lovely work of art. Matteo Fraboni’s composing and arranging talent is brilliant. The compositions and arrangements were both emotional and intellectual in their appeal and incorporated all the Quintets instrumental diversities and yet was mindful of the player's individual "sound". The Quintet was professional to the highest degree, the quintet’s individual and collective improvisation was spot on. Sometimes the violin and saxophone blended so well that they sounded like the brass section of a jazz band. Violinist Sharat Srivastava’s solos were fresh, distinctive and very personal in tone and mood yet fitted the overall composition, and Aditya Jayakar on Piano was in tune with the feel of the band and took some good rapid fire solos. But it was Rainer Pusch who stood out as a 

colossal musician who bared his emotions through his alto saxophone, and flute, displaying exquisite technique, artistic expression and musicianship, playing energetic and expressive solos. It was soul satisfying to hear him. And Abhinav

Khokhar on bass was an ideal jazz bassist who thinks on his feet and harmonises and lays a solid foundation for the band. Of course Matteo Fraboni is a versatile drummer who plays an array of inventive swinging, syncopated rhythmic patterns to support the band, and a point to note is, though he is the leader, composer and arranger of the quintet, he is restrained and does not give himself too much prominence, but remains an unobtrusive accompanist. Both the bassist and the drummers’ solos were well conceived and constructed. 

     Amongst Matteo Fraboni’s compositions was one called ‘Varda’, named after the cyclone that hit Chennai in 2016. Another was ‘The Society of Liquid Law’, and another called ‘Unknown Knowledge’. To hear this engaging Quintet was indeed a pleasure and a privilege.

      THE BEER PUPPETS set was full bodied, loud and appealed to the rock music lovers in the audience. Defining the music they performed at the Jazz festival is difficult. It could be called R & B, or it could be called Soul, or it could be called new form of rock, but it was performed with full-spirited energy and it could be called jazz too because there was a degree of improvisation. The guitar player Anthony Cammarota was versatile and surprisingly perceptive. Especially when he ‘comped’ behind the solos with interesting chords. But he played his solos sometimes like a shredding rock 

guitar player and sometimes as like a sensitive jazz guitarist. And of course there was Karim Ellaboudi on piano who is more a Jazz pianist than anything else, and it was his elegant, stylish and tasteful playing that made the music rise above itself. Shreya Bhattacharya’s is a gifted vocalist, her voice a powerful and supple instrument with which she belted out some fiery vocals. The bassist, Abhishek Dey, was the force to be reckoned with, it was he who was the drive behind the music, and his bass playing was outstanding as was  his understanding of the music. And the drummer, Aron Nyiro’s musical intelligence was obvious, he has a wonderful sense of tune, tempo and dynamics and his technique and stick work and his ability to use every part of the drum set with telling effect was incredible. So while The Beer puppets music was hard to define as jazz, it was good music that could be only be played by Jazz influenced musicians.

     It was an evening of fine music that was enjoyable, refreshing and artistic.  And appealed to the senses and to the soul.

DAY TWO

     Day Two. 3^rd of December 2017, Phoenix Arena, Hyderabad. This was the day of atmospheric, imaginative, experimental music in the amphitheatre that was suitably bathed in the luminous glow of a full moon.

     UNDER THE SURFACE from Netherlands, comprised the leader, Joost Lijbaart, who played Drums & Percussion, Bram Stadhouders, Guitar & Electronics and Sanne Rambags, Vocals & Lyrics. 

The trio’s music seemed experimental, but was actually loosely structured to give each musician room to listen and respond. One could tell that Joost Lijbart was a skilled jazz drummer who kept control over the pieces that were played and kept the trio within the structure of the music, and Bram Stadhouders on acoustic-electric guitar provided the melodic hooks on which the remarkable young singer Sanne Rambags improvised using her voice as an instrument. Under The Surface played what sounded like open and experimental music, but was, in reality, precise, controlled and atmospheric, and the music gave the impression of it being balanced between magic and reality. The bands profile very aptly described their music as a “search for space through silence and improvisation”.

     C.A.R. is four young musicians from Koln, Germany, Leonhard Huhn on alto saxophone, bass clarinet and effects, he pushes the boundaries of music by creating a delicate web of sound heavily altered by electronic effect devices. And Christian Lorenzen who plays Piano and Synthesizer is one of Germany´s flagship jazz musicians, Kenn Hartwig on acoustic-electric Bass is equally, or more at home with electronics and researching the world of sound. And Johannes Klingebiel on drums plays many genres of music but more of Techno and Deep House.

     The four musicians of C.A.R. concocted a brew of musical sounds that incorporated jazz, experimental music and free improvisation that, as someone said, “carries you away like a cloud”. 

 ERIK TRUFFAZ & RIATSU, ANAND BHAGAT & NEIL GOMES

The Erik Truffaz headed outfit played their set of exotic music last. Erik Truffaz lyrical and melodious trumpet lines were played over looped repeating patterns of sounds from his own trumpet, similar to an elephant trumpeting, and these sounds were sometimes draped over a grating factory-floor like groove, or sometimes to more atmospheric dreamlike groove similar to what Miles Davis experimented with and was ‘done with’ towards the end of his life. Comparing Erik Truffaz and Miles Davis is not far-fetched, because Erik Truffaz does play his trumpet with the same spare, thoughtful, melancholic feel as Miles Davis, but in this concert these are patched on to textures and atmospheres created by his band. Riatsu, who composes ambient techno to dark ambient electronic music.  Anand Bhagat percussionist known for his skills with the West African Djembe and who played the Didgeridoo too for some of the more exotic soundscapes, and multi Instrumentalist voice and guitar player Neil Gomes. However experimental the music may have sounded to an audience, Erik Truffaz music and the sound of his band, though out of the ordinary, is still engaging and interesting.

     All in all, it was an extraordinary two days of music. The music was quite unusual, often on the thin edge of Jazz, but it was a wonderful experience to listen to such diverse sounds and such a diverse range of music from an array of great musicians, every one of whom believed in what they were doing and gave us in the audience everything they had with holding back.

     The 2nd Hyderabad International Jazz Festival was conceived, coordinated, and made to happen through the sole effort of the one man band, Joe Koster, of course, with a whole lot of help from friends and institutions such as Hyderabad Western Music Foundation, Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad, Alliance Française Hyderabad, US Consulate, Secunderabad Club, Phoenix-Arena and a few sponsors and donors.

Pratap Antony /hydmusic.com / 7^th December 2017   Photographs: Joe Koster  

TWIN CITIES PIANO FESTIVAL 2017

A Celebration of Music Played on Piano

     Hyderabad Western Music Foundation, Musee Musical and Vidyaranya School, whose hallways and playgrounds are imbued with the sound of music, created this two day ‘Twin Cities Piano Festival 2017’ on the 11th and 12th of November.

     The 'Twin Cities Piano Festival 2017' was really a tribute to pluralism and the composite culture of the twin cities of Hyderabad & Secunderabad. It was also a tribute to the parents of music students, and music teachers, proving that the people of the Twin cities appreciate and encourage good music, even music that is not rooted in local culture.

     Hyderabad Western Music Foundation and Musee Musical were very clear on why this was called a Piano festival. It is a festival because it was not a competition; it was a celebration of the music played on a Piano. And why piano? Why not keyboard? Because the Piano is an acoustic, wooden musical instrument that produces a sound in which the tone colour and timbre is natural and rich. It is the true instrument to bring out the beauty of Western Classical music. A Yamaha Grand Piano was provided for the festival by Musee Musical (Western Musical Instruments and Music education), to celebrate their 175th year in the service of music.

     Western classical music, as we call it, can be described as ‘art’ music that stands the test of time and remains relevant to generations after it has been composed. It is music that’s been composed and written in music notation so that musicians can play it by reading the musical notation, and so Western Classical music, or, really, all Classical music, ‘Carnatic’ and’ Hindustani’ Classical music is played and listened to for centuries after being composed, just as plays by Kalidasa or Shakespeare are ‘classics’ because they are still read, performed and enjoyed even today, centuries after they were written.

     So, the music of Western Classical composers such as J.S Bach (1685-1750), W.A. Mozart (1756-1791), F. Schubert (1797-1827) and F. Lizst (1811-1886), live on even today, and pieces by these composers amongst other older and more recent composers, were performed by the young pianists/musicians on the 12th of November.

Day Two - Grand Finale of the Piano Festival

     The 18 pianists selected out of 42 who auditioned, displayed their musical abilities on the piano on the 12th of November. And it was impressive to hear so many young piano students aged between 7 and 16 show an interested audience how well they could play.

     It was such great mix of young people and the names of the 18 pianists that played showed how music brings together people of different communities, and regional cultures.

     The order of the young pianists who played, according to the programme, was: Samuel A. Marcus 30 (announced as a special guest), Vivek Mathur - 15, Ananda Gopalakrishnan - 11, Akundi Indravandith Karthikeya - 11, Rushabh Musthyala - 16, Lakshay B. - 12, Samyuktha Nandineni - 13, Dhriti Agarwal - 14 & Omi Vegada (four hands), Bindu Sravanthi - 16, P. Vishal Reddy - 14, Kshittiesh Bharadwaj - 15,& Khiyati Bharadwaj,  Kashvi Aggarwal - 7, P. Harshith Reddy - 13, Ananya Achanta - 13, Christine Grace Khumuckcham - 14, Devulapalli Sai Sri Vaishnavi - 13, Yash Agarwal -13,  Saketh Ram Josyabhatla - 15.  
     You can hear the whole evenings performances here on youtube:-  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh5PcTm3UjY

     Music is the greatest communication in the world and these young musicians were so proficient; of course, some more so than others - a few showed so much promise that it looks like there will be more concert pianists from India in the making - so that we in the audience marvelled at their gift of music. Both Mamta & Jagruti of Musee Musica, and Joe Koster of Hyderabad Western Music Foundation acknowledged that it is the parents and teachers of these musically endowed young musicians who have to be lauded, for recognising the children’s need for music and for encouraging them to learn, practice and develop their talent. 
Day One The Concert Pianists of the Piano Festival

     We will now come back to the first day of the Piano Festival, the 11th of November 2017. As part of the two day piano festival, two judges who were brought in from Ahmadabad and Mumbai to audition and select the pianists for the 12th of November, performed a selection of classical pieces on the 11th November.

     The musicians were Shantanu Patel, a concert pianist from Ahmedabad who has returned from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with a Masters of Music (MU) in performance and conducting, he is also an B.A. (Hons.) in music, specialising in performance, from Middlesex University, London. Cecil Vineet is a composer orchestrator, singer/songwriter, with a Masters degree in scoring for Film, Television and Video games from the Berklee College of Music, Boston, he also holds a Licentiate Diploma in Piano performance.

     Though I love classical music, I am not a musician enough, or expert enough, to tell whether the pianist interprets a composer well or not, I will only say this about Shantanu Patel’s playing, that he plays very naturally, fluidly and effortlessly, he could bang the hell out of the piano and then play as softly as a whispered secret, he balanced lyricism and piano gymnastics skilfully, yet captured the sentiment of all the pieces he played.

    Shantanu Patel began the evenings programme with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Twelve Variations on theme "Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman"(English: “Ah, Mother, if I could tell you”), K.265, based upon a French folk song.

    Mozart’s work began by stating the basic theme, the familiar tune “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and then with such a simple theme, Mozart creates variations of the theme with modifications and embellishment in rhythms, harmonies and texture and yet we recognise the melody throughout. Mozart's genius is mind blowing.

     Next he played Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 31 by Frédéric
Chopin, composed and published in 1837. Chopin, many feel, is the best composer for the piano. Shantanu Patel introduced this piece by saying that though the composition is in B flat minor, most of the work is written in D flat major.

     The third work Shantanu played was Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5, by Sergei Rachmaninoff, which he completed in 1901. The pianist displayed speed and subtlety both in the very intense fast sections and also in the calm ones!

    Shantanu Patel concluded his programme with Prelude pour le piano, L. 95, a three movement piano suite, Prelude, Sarabande and Toccata composed  by Claude Debussy, one of the most innovative composers who completed this work in 1903. Prelude pour le piano did not seem easy to play but was played in a way that seemed effortless.

     Cecil Vineet Abhishek, the modest and self effacing musician, in his 

introduction, said, he had added orchestral accompaniment to Prelude in C-sharp minor Op. 3, No. 2, one of Sergei Rachmaninoff's most famous Piano compositions, electronically, as is done in many movie and television serials. He then displayed his skill in not only playing the piano, but in programming, scoring and arranging the Rachmaninoff Prelude in C-sharp minor in a tasteful arrangement like a Concerto for piano and orchestra.

     The programme concluded with a surprise, with both the pianists getting together to play a four hand piece.    

     It is not common for the Twin Cities to hear a bona fide concert pianist play live, and so this was a rare auditory treat for this writer, and for all the other Western Classical music enthusiasts, thanks to the ‘Twin Cities Piano Festival 2017’ and the phenomenal effort put in by Joe Koster the chief organiser on behalf of the Hyderabad Western Music Foundation.

Pratap Antony / 15/11/2017/HWMF www.hydmusic.com

FEELING THE JOYOUS ENERGY OF FRESH YOUNG MUSICAL TALENT

 Lighting a path to a bright musical future
    I had the great pleasure of being in the audience at a very special evening of choral music by a choir of young people aged between, perhaps, 10 and 15, who presented the audience with a beautiful gift of lively and vibrant music.

     This 16 or 17 voice choir that brought so much joy to the audience was ‘Harmony Children’s Chorus’ from Bangalore. The choir consisted of students of Sandra Oberoi’s ‘Harmony’ Music School in Bangalore.
     Sandra Oberoi is a Western vocalist and music educator who is responsible for fostering the talent of these young musicians, and who, I’m sure, inculcated the young choristers with the astonishing self confidence that they displayed; and invested the singers with good intonation, verve, understanding, and the ability to sing well beyond their years. The natural clarity of the children’s voices while they shared their joy in making music gave us in the audience even greater joy.
    But, I’m getting ahead of myself, the evenings programme on the 5^th of November 2017 at Vidyaranya School was organised by the Hyderabad Western Music Foundation and Harmony-The Music School (Bangalore), and began with a short recital by the Deccan Voices, a twin cities based group of enthusiastic 

singers from a "medley" of backgrounds and cultures brought together by their shared passion for vocal music. 

The Deccan Voices sang, ‘The Music is Always There With You’ by the eminent composer, John Rutter, followed by ‘Suo Gan’, a Welsh lullaby. They then performed four songs from the Oscar winning movie ‘La La Land’, the songs were ‘City of Stars’, ‘Another Day of Sun’, ‘Audition - Fools who Dream’ and ‘Someone in the Crowd’. Kudo’s to the Deccan Voices for performing without looking at the music sheets and with minimal direction from Joe Koster the choir director who accompanied the choir on keyboard and who had also trained the choir for performance.
You can hear the Deccan voices on these youtube videos
Youtube - City of Stars from La La Land https://youtu.be/XIb1JOeXj-8
Another Day of Sun from La La Land https://youtu.be/BjgrApar0x0
Someone in the Crowd from La La Land https://youtu.be/laLNMzKB1L8
Audition – The Fools Who Dream from La La Land https://youtu.be/vAdnyCnMnQI
The Music’s always there with you – John Rutter https://youtu.be/fnpeQc-Gs9I
Suo Gan – Traditional Welsh Lullaby – Mark Burrows https://youtu.be/R4kq2S3fgwQ
     Let’s get back to the main event, ‘Harmony Children’s Chorus’ from Bangalore; they performed a selection of ten songs, the programming was well thought out and the songs were interestingly performed, the talented musicians

/vocalists sang with zest and exciting musicality, the sound was always clean, the diction clear and they kept the rhythms strong, spicy and accurate while maintaining pitch with amazing ease and composure. 

     All the songs were sung from memory. The children in the choir were so musically gifted that it was hard to believe that they were just school children. And so we must  give credit to their teacher Sandra Oberoi for song selection, programming of the music, for her wonderful attention to detail; for arranging some of the songs and for training and bringing out the children’s talent and musicianship and preparing them perfectly to express their joy in making music without inhibition, and for making them shine like the little stars that they were, so that we in the audience could experience their musical gifts through their smiling eyes, swaying limbs and their heartfelt singing. . 

     Worth mentioning is that Sandra Oberoi had designed this programme, so that every singer got to sing either a solo, or be part of a duo or trio along with the choir to display their talent. The eminent pianist, Irina Tsarenko accompanied The Harmony Children’s Chorus. Since all the soloists and the chorus performed much more captivatingly than I ever expected, I will not describe how they sang each song, suffice it to say they displayed impressive musicianship. This is the programme in the order that they performed.

The first song they performed was Flower Duet – This pretty song, composed by Leo Delibes for the opera, ‘Lakme’, was sung by two sopranos, a boy and a girl along with the chorus. They next performed Pie Jesu from Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Reqiem. This too, was sung by two sopranos and chorus. Next was Lord make Me An Instrument of Thy peace - this acapella (unaccompanied) piece by Michael John Trotta is based on a French poem that used soft harmony and counterpoint brought out the beauty of this song. Tomorrow, from the musical 'Annie', and arranged by Sandra Oberoi, was sung by a soloist and 
chorus. The well known song  I Could Have Danced All Night, from My Fair Lady, was arranged by Sandra Oberoi for soloists and chorus. Memory - from Andrew Lloyd Weber’s ‘Cats’. Sandra Oberoi expressively rendered this song 

accompanied by Irina Tsarenko, and listening to this song moved me inside out, despite having heard the song by many singers both live, recorded and on youtube by the original cast of ‘Cats’, so, this became the most beautiful rendition of the song I’ve ever heard. Rise Up by Swiss DJ and composer Yves LaRock was next by soloist and chorus. An Evening Prayer from Hansel Gretel  and opera by 19^th century composer Engelbert Humperdink. Next was the charming song How Far I’ll Go from the Disney animated movie ‘Moana’ again for soloists and chorus. It was this tune I think, which had a young little dancer in a tutu dance, while this song was being sung. It was endearing, to say the least. The next song, Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better, from the movie ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ was rendered so dramatically and well by the two fiercely competitive singers that the audience was thoroughly amused and entertained. The song Chili Con Carne – was next, by Swedish composer, Anders Edenroth, who sings in the acapella singing group ‘Real Group’. This song is a simple recipe for a Mexican dish that is insanely hard to sing, especially to maintain its rhythmic vitality and tempo, and more than ever while dancing, which the Chorus did so well. The last part of the set was called Bollywood Medley, this medley of ‘Bollywood’ songs was arranged by Sandra Oberoi and was good fun.

     Sandra Oberoi and the Harmony Children’s Chorus from Bangalore are talented and committed singers that brought to us the freshness of young musical minds that are lighting a path to a bright musical future.
     You can hear Sandra Oberoi's Harmony Children's Chorus - the whole concert here: -  Youtube https://youtu.be/cMSjtmHcyuc

     The Hyderabad Western Music Foundation (HWMF) once again brought the Twin Cities a good musical experience. The indefatigable organiser-in-chief, Joe Koster, founder director of HWMF, and musical director of Deccan Voices, thanked the Vidyaranya School for supporting HWMF and the Deccan Voices, who use the school premises for practices and for concerts, for their quiet but resolute support to music in the twin cities.

Written for Hyderabad Western Music Foundation www.hydmusic.com