This Sunday, music lovers of Bengaluru are in for a classical treat with a twist as the Bangalore School of Music Chamber Orchestra perform an iconic concert of classics and Hollywood themes in a concert that promises to be one for the bucket list.
Organised by the Toit Foundation for the arts and conducted by V. Narayanaswamy, the concert is aptly called ‘A Classical Promenade’ and is the first in an annual series to promote Western Classical music.
The 35-member strong orchestra will render the classical works of legendary masters in the first half, while the second half will ‘walk’ the audience through times and genres from pure classical music to classical music in the movies of the 21st Century, with cinematic themes from iconic movie original sound tracks.
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The Foundation’s co-founder Sibi Venkataraju, who himself learns violin under Narayanaswamy’s tutelage, says he’s very excited about the concert since this is the first time they are organising an event of this standard. “And we’re working with my mentor and teacher who is the conductor at the concert. He’s probably India’s most foremost and experienced conductors and I’m probably very fortunate to have access to someone of that calibre to teach me.”
So what inspired this collaboration? “To better appreciate the music I was learning, I used to watch Youtube videos since there weren’t too many regular concerts in Bengaluru that we could access. Narayanaswamy told me that it’s difficult because there aren’t enough sponsors. And that’s a Catch22 situation where unless you have a regular set of concerts, you don’t have a regular audience who know what’s happening. And if there’s no audience you don’t get too many sponsors.”
That’s where Toit Foundation decided to step in and held discussions with the late Aruna Sunderlal, founder of the Bangalore School of Music. “We committed to start with one concert a year with a regular calendar for Western Classical music in Bengaluru.” Sibi also points out that a lot of music genres are dying. “It’s mostly EDM and Hip-Hop now with youngsters – which is why we’re trying to do a lot in this concert that even people who aren’t into Western Classical music will relate to. From the great classics to the film themes, there’s something for everyone in this concert.”
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The biggest takeaway for people will be the power of an orchestra, affirms Sibi. “An orchestra which is performing without amplified sound and the power of 35 musicians playing together in harmony. It doesn’t happen with any other kind of music genre. This can transform people’s experience.”
Witness the musical serenade live on October 16 from 6 p.m. onwards at Ambedkar Bhavan, Vasanthnagar on invitational basis only.