The globally-acclaimed Candlelight Concert is now in Chennai. Listen to classical and contemporary music at Museum Theatre, amidst thousands of candles

The globally-acclaimed Candlelight Concert is now in Chennai. Listen to classical and contemporary music at Museum Theatre, amidst thousands of candles

Twelve thousand candles light up the Museum Theatre. A magical golden glow engulfs the space while soft music fills the air. With Margazhi and Christmas round the corner, this is perhaps the perfect time for Candlelight Concert to debut in Chennai.

The first concert on November 15, titled Best Movie Soundtracks, will have tunes from Tamil and Hindi films. This includes hits like ‘Vaseegara’, ‘Srivalli’, ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’, ‘Lag Ja Gale’, ‘Uyire’ and will feature home-grown talents Lalit Talluri on flute, Bharath Dhamodaran on keyboard, and Sarath Dhamodaran on percussion.

And if you are still brooding about not getting those tickets to the Coldplay concert, here is some consolation. You can check out A Tribute to Coldplay on December 5, 9, and February 9. There is also a show dedicated to the masterpieces by Mozart and Chopin and Queen vs. Abba.

“We have a curation team that decides the music, artists and the venue. We don’t believe in flying people from here to there, we look at local talent,” says Deepa Bajaj, country head — Live Your City, India. “As for the venue, we end up working with quite a few of them. We look for a unique flavour or for a standing institution in that city,” she adds.

First started in Spain in 2019, Candlelight Concert’s popularity has seen it grow to 40-plus countries and over 300 cities. Produced by Live Your City (a brand owned by Fever Labs Inc) in India, the first concert took place in Mumbai in June this year. The series of concerts have musicians playing classic and contemporary music. There is no microphone to amplify the sound. All is calm except for the appreciation claps at the end of each set. The repertoire is diverse and ranges from tributes to Bach, Chopin and Ed Sheeran to a string quartet playing hip hop beats or Punjabi music.

“It’s about bringing classical music to contemporary audience. We want to provide a platform for artists who are skilled,” says Deepa. The concert is now in 21 cities in the country, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Pune, Delhi, Ahmedabad... Sometimes, on a particular date there are two to three sessions taking place one after the other. “The whole point is to make candlelight concert a regular part of the city,” she adds.

Initially starting out with classical music, the concert now also incorporates contemporary music from films and pop music by bands and singers. Lately, even tunes from Bridgerton find themselves being played to cater to a wider audience. “For the Coldplay tribute we saw millennials, and for Taylor Swift we saw parents bringing their kids or a group of kids,” says Deepa, adding that one of her favourite shows so far was an Indian classical trio (sarangi, tabla, and harmonium) doing a tribute to Coldplay.