Rhythm is going to get you this World Music Day

With World Music Day just around the corner, music lovers in Bengaluru will be spoilt for choice this weekend...

There is no accounting for a person’s taste, especially in music. There are almost as many genres and sub cultures as there are people on the planet. First celebrated in Paris on June 21, 1982, World Music Day has since become a global phenomenon. As it falls on a weekday this year, the musically-inclined all over the city are ensuring the weekend is a tribute to melody and harmony.

NCPA comes to Bengaluru

For the first time since the pandemic, the National Centre for the Performing Arts’ Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI), is touring again. Based out of Mumbai, the orchestra will be playing at Ranga Shankara on June 17 and 18.

Talking about the event, Xerxes Unvala, GM, Western Classical and SOI, says they will be playing some of the most popular music by classical composers — Mozart, Beethoven and Bizet.

Apart from a range of classical compositions that are bound to delight the connoisseur of Western classical music, as well as master classes and workshops, the highlight of the orchestra’s tour will be a concert that will cater to a younger audience, especially school children. Called the Young People’s Concert, Xerxes says, “It is a specially curated programme for children designed as a musical journey with 10 pieces of music each from a different country. Each of these pieces will be performed using different instrumentation as well. It will give children a chance to hear a little bit of music from composers from around the world.”

He adds that it will serve as an introductory concert of sorts with a narrator taking them on this journey. “We are trying to engage much more with the community in Bengaluru and bring a little bit of everything that we do in Mumbai, here. We hope to reach out to as many music lovers, musicians and budding artistes as a sort of holistic, residency plan rather than just a concert.”

Arundathi Nag, founder of Ranga Shankara, believes it is important for a city like Bengaluru to have a regular, predictable calendar for music. “The Symphony Orchestra of India of Mumbai is India’s only professional, philharmonic orchestra. It is important that the city residents know they will coming here on a regular basis. The Young People’s Concert will help parents initiate their children into the world of Western music.”