The aura of the night light begins to fade as you enter the dark room. Nimble hands guide you to your seat. The room is pitch black and you cannot even see your neighbour in the next chair, let alone the musicians. Then the magic happens. The sounds of strings, wind and percussion instruments begin to fill the room. The experience tingles every sense except the visual proving to be a musical treat with a twist. Welcome to the concept of the ‘Concert In The Dark’, scheduled to be performed this Sunday in Bengaluru.
Organised by The Consulate General of Switzerland in Bangalore/ swissnex India, the Goethe-Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore, the Bangalore School of Music and the National Association for the Blind, Karnataka, the exciting musical event is the brainchild of Sandro Schneebeli and Max Pizio from Switzerland. The concert is presented in the framework of the Italian language week. The Swiss artistes offer the audience a sensorial experience, minus the visual. The guests enter a dark room guided inside by visually challenged persons. Throughout the concert, which includes several string, wind and percussion instruments, one sees nothing of the guest in the next chair, nor the musicians, save the last 10 minutes of the show.
Sandro explains: “In the completely dark environment, where one has no information in advance on the setting, one only hears sounds, voices, tone and music with a much deeper intensity. The eyes are open but nothing is visible. This gives people the ability to open up their sensorial capacities.”
The multi-city tour takes the artistes through Delhi, Jaipur and then Bengaluru before they head to Mumbai on November 8.
Conny Camenzind, Deputy Consul General, Consulate General of Switzerland, says they are all very excited about this concert series. “The artistes arrived here in India on Wednesday morning and are performing in Delhi and Jaipur. But we can’t wait for Sunday to come to perform in Bengaluru.”
She elaborates on the theme. “The musicians are here in the context of the Italian language week which is one of the four official languages of Switzerland. These musicians are from the Italian-speaking region called Ticino. They have done a series of concerts around the globe previously for the Swiss Consulate and Embassy. This series is also to show that Switzerland cares about people with disability, in this case, particularly the blind and visually impaired people.”
What the audience can expect is a very different sensation for the senses, Conny explains. “We see and sense a lot through our eyes. Being led into an unfamiliar situation in an unfamiliar space in an unfamiliar context will make your sense more aware of your surroundings and what’s happening around you by sound, touch and feeling. Your eyes will be of no use to you for that one hour.”
Conny hopes that the audience has a bigger understanding and compassion towards disabled people, in particular people with visibility problems, by the time the concert is over. “This goes to show how much effort goes into doing something so easy for us, like crossing a street, when you are visually challenged. I hope we have a bit more respect and appreciation towards disabled people around us.”
While Sandro studied music at the ‘Swiss Jazz School’ and then began to work professionally as a freelance guitarist, composer and producer, Max was born into a family of musicians and completed his musical education with the clarinet, the Akai double base, flute and drums. Max is also active as a composer, arranger, producer and publisher and defines himself as a ‘sound designer’ and Sandro collaborates with various musicians. This project is the coming together of their years of genius in the music field.
Give your eyes a break and check out the ‘Concert In The Dark’ on November 5 at 5 and 7 pm at the Goethe-Institut, Indiranagar.
