On Saturday morning, 55 students of music took the stage and performed with the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) as their mentors looked on proudly at the Add Art Festival at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA).
The students presented the popular Bollywood song Ae Watan from the film Raazi. The students were trained under NCPA’s Support To Gurus and Music For Schools programmes.
Dr. Suvarnalata Rao, head, programming, Indian Music, NCPA, said, “There are few schools in Mumbai which impart the knowledge of music to students. In some high-end schools, the knowledge of world music is being imparted, but the students of normal schools are left behind. To bridge this gap, we hire music teachers and send them to various schools in Mumbai, where they engage the students with music for an hour.”
Dr. Rao said the children have become more confident. “They were afraid to face anyone before, but since they started learning music, they are more confident in expressing themselves,” she said.
Mansi Kirangarath, a student of Swami Vivekanand Vidya Mandir, said, “I was initially afraid of performing with SOI. But after a couple of rehearsals, I became confident. Rehearsals are very important for a good final performance.”
Pranav Haridas, who played the harmonium, said it is a dream of every musician to perform at NCPA’s Tata Theatre. “The Tata Theatre is known for its world-class acoustics. Performing here is a dream for every musician. That too in a festival where legends like Ustad Zakir Hussain and Ustad Rashid Khan are performing. It was a great experience to be a part of this festival,” Pranav said.
The event started with Pandit Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty’s disciple Soham Kundu performing Raga Sudh Sarang. He presented Aaj ki Gandhi subh ho in v ilambit ektaal . This bandish was composed by Pandit Gyan Prakash Gosh, who is Pandit Chakraborty’s guru.
“This is how a tradition is passed to the next generation. A guru teaches his disciple whatever he has learnt from his guru. Thus, guru-shishya parampara is the only way by which Indian classical music can be preserved,” Dr. Rao said
She said giving platforms to schoolchildren helps them showcase their talent in public. “These children have developed so much that now they even anchor shows at NCPA without fear,” she said.
