Last year, the inaugural edition of The Hindu Friday Review November Fest in Bangalore was a resounding success. We are happy to return this year with the second edition of the festival, which was launched in Chennai and has been held annually since 2005.
This year marks another stage in the evolution of the festival. Apart from Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Coimbatore, it will be held for the very first time in Kochi, thereby marking its presence in all four southern states.
The festival in Bangalore this year features three concerts over three days, each with a unique musical footprint. We begin this musical celebration with Sapta Shabda, a concert conceived by Chitravina N Ravikiran and based on his award-winning concept, Melharmony. He will be joined by the renowned
Carnatic vocalist Unnikrishnan in an aim to capture the fundamental spirit of melody, rhythm and lyrics, but with a fourth dimension — harmony. Next up is a performance by The Boriana Dimitrova Quartet, whose distinctiveness begins with its eponymous leader, a woman who has breached the male bastion of the brass section. The group's unique sound is a fusion of musical traditions, merging western European jazz with elements of the folk music of Dimitrova’s home country, Bulgaria. We end with a performance by Jeff Lang – guitarist, singer, songwriter and a major presence in the Australian roots music scene whose style incorporates folk, blues and rock. He will be accompanied by Bobby Singh, the renowned tabla player.
With the enthusiastic support of your music-loving city, we hope that the second edition of November Fest will be as successful as the first.
N. Ram
Editor-in-Chief
The Hindu
