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Voices of India

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The first edition of the national singing competition, Voices of India, will take place at the National Centre for Performing Arts (Experimental Theatre) of Mumbai on 28th August 2018 at 1:30 pm (semi-final) and 29th August 2018 at 2:00 pm (finale). The competition benefits from the expertise of an international jury composed of experts from prestigious institutions of Western classical music as well the enthusiasm of 20 talented Indian participants.

Among the 50 candidates who showed interest, 20 singers, aged between 17 and 45 years, were selected to participate in the semi-final. They belong to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.

The jury comprises several European and Indian experts from prestigious institutions like the Royal Academy in London, the Festival of Lyric Art of Aix-En-Provence, Academie Rainier III de Monaco, the Opera de Monte- Carlo and the Alliance Française of Chittagong.

The competition could not have existed without the gracious support of Bharat Forge, Crédit Agricole, Godrej and the French Institute in India. The competition is hosted by the National Centre for Performing Arts.

Françoise Lasserre, at the beginning

Françoise Lasserre, head of the renowned orchestra Akadêmia in Europe, captivated by Indian culture, has been coming to India with her orchestra since 2013.

Creating encounters between western classical music and Indian culture, between experienced singers and amateurs of lyric art, she has developed several projects: Orfeo Crossing the Ganges (Delhi and Paris in 2013, Reims and Metz in 2016), Viva Vivaldi (Delhi 2015), Tales of the Night (Bangalore, Pune, Delhi and Mumbai in 2016) and Songs of the Heart (Chennai, Pune et Mumbai en 2017 pour le festival Bonjour India).

A step to encourage the emergence of new talents

Since 2013, supported by the French Institute in India, Francoise Lasserre and the artists of Akadêmia are participating in training courses which contribute towards raising the level of western classical music in India. But what does the future hold for these young artists who train with passion by choosing to pursue higher studies abroad? How to create an encouraging environment for their artistic development in India? The first step of this process, seems to us, is to improve the spotting of talent: the competition has been conceived with this objective in mind. The next step will be the creation of a professional chamber choir, the National Chamber Choir of India, an ensemble which will allow the discovery of new repertoires and styles which are associated to them.

The competition in detail

At the end of the semi-final on 28th August, 10 singers will be selected to participate in the finale on 29th August. At the end of the tests (a mini-recital of 20 mins for each participant), the jury will deliberate to award:

One 1st prize (Rs. 2,00,000), one 2nd prize (Rs. 1,00,000) and one 3rd prize (Rs. 70,000).

Furthermore, 4 special prizes will awarded for: best interpretation of a lied or an art song, best interpretation of baroque music, best interpretation of sacred music and best young singer (under 23 years).

Participation of the audience

The audience will be encouraged to award their prize to the singer who will impress and move them the most. This prize risks being a close-fought one!

Contact

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Akadêmia
Akadêmia

Created in 1986, Akadêmia is a baroque instrumental and vocal ensemble with a unique artistic projet. Its name is a reference to the philosophical school founded by Plato and to the Italian academies, sites of research and experimentation, where musicians, philosophers, poets, people associated with theatre and artists from all horizons met and exchanged ideas. It also expresses the deeply humanist basis of Françoise Lasserre’s approach, as the desire to kindle emotion lies at the heart of her artistic project. The ensemble’s rich discographic production, dedicated to Palestrina, Monteverdi, Landi, Cavalli, Schütz and Bach, has been greatly acclaimed by the critics and has received several awards (Diapason d’or, ffff from Télérama, Choc de Classica, etc.). In 2016, Akadêmia will be celebrating 30 years of existence and to mark this occasion the ensemble will perform several prestigious concerts, notably Bach’s Magnificat and Trauerode at the Chaise-Dieu Festival, a programme dedicated to Johann Christoph Bach at the Oratoire du Louvre in Paris, and Orfeo, Crossing the Ganges at the Arsenal in Metz and at the Reims Opera house. These three concerts are a good illustration of the direction Françoise Lasserre has been following with Akadêmia over the last few years, deliberately proposing a new reading of the great works that gave the ensemble its reputation for excellence. Her ambition is to make ancient music resound in the modern world, by building bridges between the artistic disciplines (dance, literature, puppet theatre, video, etc), different eras, and extra-European cultures. Her interpretations of Schütz and Monteverdi were thus the inspiration for several contemporary dance creations: Altro Canto by Jean-Christophe Maillot in 2006 that is still touring the world, Mea Culpa and Mercy by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in 2006 and 2014. To make the great moments of baroque music more accessible to contemporary audiences, Akadêmia commissioned two texts in French from the poet Jean-Pierre Siméon. In 2010, the focus was on Orfeo and Italian music with Death is Only Death if Love Survives It. Then in 2014-2015, the show And they will nail me to the tree, a contemporary, humanist view of the Saint Matthew’s Passion, offered a new approach to Johann Sebastian Bach’s masterpiece. Since 2013, Akadêmia has been deeply involved in India. Orfeo, Crossing the Ganges, based on Claudio Monteverdi’s work, was the starting point for an ongoing training and cooperation programme with young Indian artists. This commitment is a continuance of the work Akadêmia does in France, training and accompanying young professionals as they begin their careers. Akadêmia engages with its audiences to help them discover baroque works and instruments and to allow people to access all the emotion a concert can offer. The ensemble regularly organises sessions in schools, middle schools and lycées, and creates close partnerships with centres for social work, old-age homes and even associations like Secours Populaire and Cultures du Coeur.

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