The East West Music and Dance Encounter is back, bigger and better than before!
In February 2017, The Bangalore School of Music will celebrate its 30th Anniversary and the 15th edition of the East-West Music and Dance Encounter (EWMD – 2017). Like all its predecessors, EWMD-2017, too will be a celebration of the spirit of Music from the East and West and will feature grand inaugural and closing concerts, solo recitals, workshops, lectures, panel discussions and dialogues between artistes. The festival will be inaugurated on Sunday, February 4, 2017 to commemorate the birthday of our late founder Mrs. Aruna Sunderlal, who had conceptualised and created EWMD and was its Artistic Director ever since its inception.
For first-timers to EWMD, The East-West Music and Dance Festival was initiated with an organising committee comprising of experts from both the Indian and Western classical music / Dance scene like world-renowned Scientist and Pianist-par-excellance, Dr. Raja Ramanna, Vainika Dr. Doraiswamy Iyengar, Scholar Shri. B. V. K Shastry and other luminaries, including a representative from the Dept. of Kannada and Culture, Government of India, and local music activists. The first EWMD was a week-long multi-cultural Festival in the city, the first of its kind, setting the cultural scene abuzz.
Indian Council for Cultural Relations(ICCR) has supported the Festival since its inception, through their invaluable help with overseas artistes’ participation. Artistes from several countries come together to participate in scintillating Concerts of exceptional brilliance, while Seminars and Panel Discussions on relevant topics bring a better understanding of the cultures of the East and West, workshops and master-classes by the performing artistes, ensure that global music standards of performance and technique are transferred to student musicians to mould them into the next generation of performing artistes and thereby the cycle of growth and evolution and growth continues.
By the end of each Festival, cultural boundaries are melted down, perceptions are bridged and new doors of understanding and friendship are thrown open.
Past artistes have included Odissi danseuse, the Late Protima Gauri Bedi, Saxophonist, Dr. Kadri Gopalnath, Veena Exponent, Dr. V. Doraiswamy Iyengar, Hungarian-American Pianist, Lydia Orias, Canadian Soprano, Audrey Leonard Borschel, Swedish Soprano, Helen Larsson, Dr. Suma Sudhindra, Dr. Madhu Natraj and STEM Theatre Dancers, Grammy Awardee, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Tabla Maestro, Dr, Zakir Hussain, Sarod Virtuoso, Amjad Ali Khan, Indian-born Austrian Pianist and Professor, Marialena Fernandes, French Bassoonist, David Chukrov, French Opera Singers, Aude Priya Wicziarg and Jane Camillioni, The Bangalore School of Music Chamber Orchestra, The Bangalore School of Music Choral Ensemble, Bharatnatyam expert, Vani Ganapathy, Guitarist, Konarak Reddy, Violinist, Dr. L. Subramaniam, World Fusion jazz Ensemble, MoonArra, French Celebrity Pianist, Marouan Benabdallah, Duo Sirocco of France and Puducherry Woodwinds, American Guitarist, Rebecca Miller and many more Western and Indian Artistes of repute.
This year, we have worked extra hard to line up the best internationally-renowned artistes representing major music genres to ensure that there is indeed something for everyone; so whether pure western classical is your ‘cuppa tea’, jazz is what thrills you, Indian classical is what you are attuned to, or you find a simple joy in just humming Broadway and other popular songs, EWMD 2017 is where you ‘gotta’ be. Our sincere gratitude to the Consulates of Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, Canada, Germany, for their support and assistance in artiste co-ordination.
Spread across many venues spanning the length and breadth of Bangalore, thereby hoping to take the Festival to just about everyone, our concert line-up is below:
Saturday, February 4, 2017, Inaugural
Marialena Fernandes and The Trio Viennair (Austria-Piano, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet) / Mythili Anantharaman (Voice) Aruna Sunderlal Auditorium, The Bangalore School of Music) RT Nagar
Sunday, February 5, 2017, Carnatic Evening-1
Sukanya Ramgopal and Stree Taal Tarang (Ghatam, Veena, Mridangam, Morching, violin)/ Veena Duets by Vidhwan D. Balakrishna & Vidhwan Srinivasa Prasanna (Veenas, Morching, Mridangam) Aruna Sunderlal Auditorium, (The Bangalore School of Music) RT Nagar
Thursday, February 09, 2017 – Trio Viennair with Marialena Fernandes
Guru Nanak Bhavan, Miller’s Tank Bund Road, Vasanthnagar
Friday, February 10, 2017, World Music
Smita Nagdev & Adarsh Shenoy (Bhopal-Sitar Tabla) Christian Berger Band (AION Quartet-Switzerland-Oudh, Double Bass, Piano, Drums) Aruna Sunderlal Auditorium, The Bangalore School of Music) RT Nagar
Saturday, February 11, 2017, Simply Schubert
The Bangalore Men: All-male ensemble of The Bangalore School of Music, Maria Forsstrom-Soprano, Sweden, Natallia Kapylova-Piano-Belarus/India) Saint Mark’s Cathedral, Saint Mark’s Road.
Sunday, February 12, 2017, BSM Concert Choir along with The Moving Big Band and the Gothenberg Salongs Orchestra
(India-Sweden: Voices in Harmony, Brass, Woodwinds, Orchestra) Phoenix Market City-Whitefield Main Road, Mahadevpura/ Aroha Kathak Dance Troupe (Canada) Guru Nanak Bhavan, Miller’s Tank Bund Road, Vasanthnagar
Friday, February 17, 2017, Carnatic Evening-2
Geetha Navale and Gopal Navale (Veena-Guitar)/ Mythili Anantharaman and Troupe (Voice-Mridangam-Violin) Aruna Sunderlal Auditorium, The Bangalore School of Music) RT Nagar
Saturday, February 18, 2017, The Moving Big Band / Mezzo Magic
(Big Band Jazz-Sweden at Saint Joseph Boys’ High School, Museum Road) Opera Arias by Swedish Soprano Extraordinaire Ms Maria Forsstrom and Piano Solos by Belarus-born Concert Pianist Ms Natallia Kapylova-Sweden and Belarus/India at Saint Andrew’s Church, Cubbon Road)
Sunday, February 19, 2017: Viva Vivaldi and More!
(Gothenberg Salongs Orchestra, BSM Jubilee Choir, Maria Forsström -Sweden, Payal John-India, Tanisha Herbert-India & Jonas Olsson – India/Sweden) Guru Nanak Bhavan, Miller’s Tank Bund Road, Vasanthnagar
Tuesday, February 21, 2017: Crossing Boundaries
(Select Students and Faculty of the BSM, Artistes from ZHDK, Zurich: India-Switzerland) Aruna Sunderlal Auditorium, The Bangalore School of Music) RT Nagar
Thursday, February 23, 2017: Favourites from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s by the BSM Concert Choir along with The Moving Big Band / Hefi Quartet
(India-Sweden: Voices in Harmony, Brass, Woodwinds / Jazz Ensemble – Poland)
Friday, February 24, 2017: Jazz Carnatic: Ravindra Yavagal Ensemble / Klaus Graf Quartet
(India: Tabla-Violin, Germany: Bass, Sax, Drums, Guitar) at Aruna Sunderlal Auditorium, The Bangalore School of Music, RT Nagar / The Hefi Quartet, (Poland) at Jagriti, Whitefield Main Road
Saturday Feb 25, 2017: Jazz Weekend
Jazz Revival (India) / The Hefi Quartet (Poland) at Aruna Sunderlal Auditorium, (The Bangalore School of Music) RT Nagar, The Bangalore School of Music Chamber Orchestra (India) at Jagriti, Whitefield Main Road
Sunday Feb 26, 2017: Starstrings Orchestra, Sukrupa Children’s Choir, BSM Children’s Choir
Jawahar Bal Bhavan, Cubbon Park
Saturday March 4, 2017: The Madras Guitar Quintet headed by Samuel Thangadurai
(India) at Aruna Sunderlal Auditorium, The Bangalore School of Music, RT Nagar
Apart from these gala not-to-be-missed-concerts, EWMD 2017 will feature master-classes by the visiting artistes, workshops, lectures, panel discussions and dialogues between artistes and for the very first time in the history of EWMD, a special event wherein a ‘collector’s item’ specially-commissioned sketch of the ‘old’ Bangalore School of Music, (functioning for over 20 years from the home of its Founder, the late Mrs Aruna Sunderlal, before it moved to its own present location in 2008) by Bangalore-based Master Caricature Artiste, Paul Fernandes, will be auctioned live on February 26 at ‘aPaulogy’ Gallery, (Richard’s Town) and the proceeds used for music education of deserving youngsters.
As we said at the very beginning, The East West Music and Dance Encounter is back, bigger and better than before, so what are you waiting for?!
