If you love listening to live performances and often find yourself in restaurants or pubs amidst the cacophony of loud conversations and jarring music, the idea of house concerts will appeal to you. A relatively new concept to Bengaluru, modelled along the lines of ‘Chamber Concerts’ that promote classical music, house concerts, with their limited audience, are being welcomed by listeners and artists alike.
On Saturday, three young artists took the stage at a house in Koramangala and played for a small group of around 25-30 music buffs. They performed many original numbers.
The concept is that each visitor books a seat in advance and pays whatever they can afford as an entry fee. The venue is a house offered by any person who is interested in hosting a music concert at their home.
“We have noticed that artists who want to play original compositions often do not get space to perform. Restaurants and other venues want commercial music or covers of popular bands to be performed. At a house concert, the audience is focused on the music and there is immediate feedback for the musician as well,” explains Manu Mathew, one of the organisers of House Concert Bangalore, the group behind the initiative.
The idea was born in New Delhi two years ago when music lovers were finding it difficult to locate venues that supported original music. “We began in Delhi with three supporters and myself. We sought to encourage original content or covers where the artist performs different renditions of popular songs,” Mr. Mathew explained.
Group to scale up
So far, the team in Bengaluru, comprised of four people, has managed to hold three events and are looking to scale up. “Venues are proposed mostly by friends of friends. Our team then goes and checks out the capacity and we start compiling a limited guest list. The minimum criteria for the venue must be that it can accommodate 30-40 people,” Mr. Mathew added.
For artists, the venue provides a stage to showcase their music as well as a place to distribute their recordings. Visitors are given a fee range between ₹300 to ₹500 and are free to contribute as much as they can. “The collection is given to the artist. We also arrange the sound systems and other logistics for the performance,” he said.
The group can be found on Facebook at House Concert Bangalore and upcoming events are announced so that interested people can book a seat. “The idea of listening to original music up close is the best part of this concept. Interacting with the artists is also not tough as it is a very informal setting,” says Malavika N., a resident of Indiranagar.
