|
||
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
Astrology
Chat
Cityscape
Classifieds
Entertainment
Health
Matrimonial |
|
|
|
Vayu Naidu was the traditional grandmother telling the tale with perfect voice modulation. All one had to do was to close one's eyes and drift into the images told by the storyteller, which was complemented by the background music. The narration was an adaptation from a Gujarati folk tale, representing a storyteller's journey through time and geography across three continents - India, Europe and America. The Indian tour for the group was scheduled from December 14 to December 20 in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and New Delhi. In Mumbai and Kolkata the response was very good. The Mumbai audience was enthralled by the very concept of the concert. The Kolkata audience was excited about the Harp, which was a bonanza for the Indian tour. For the Chennaivasi too it was a performance with a difference. The concert in New Delhi is on December 20.
The concert included five sections starting with the 'Raga Jogkouns', written and created by Ustad Imran Khan and performed by Ulrich Heinen on the Cello and Sarvar Sabri on the Tabla. The 'Snake Story' was a musical narration created by Vayu Naidu and performed by Vayu Naidu accompanied by the Cello and the Tabla. 'They Say.." was a spoken poem written by Vayu Naidu presented by Vayu Naidu and Sarvar Sabari. While Vayu Naidu presented the English version, Sarvar Sabri presented the Hindi. This was followed by a performance by the BCMG group. Then came "Future Perfect", the musical narration. The two-hour programme presented a different genre to Chennaivasis. Talking about the decline of theatre in India, both Vayu Naidu and Judith attributed it to the success of Bollywood. According to them, Indians seem self sufficed with the music that Bollywood offers them. Vayu Naidu pointed out how there is no proper school, except for some at the national level, which trains in the field of theatre.
Vayu Naidu and the BCMG met seven years before, where they came out with the concept of musical narration. Today, the group tours the world presenting to the audience their proud creation. The accompanists include Sarvar Sabri on the Tabla, an internationally renowned player. Kewin Gowland on the flute. He began learning the flute at the age of12. In 1998, he was appointed principal flautist with the city of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO). Ulrich Heinen, who plays the Cello, has studied at the Cologne Conservator at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. He has won several national and international competitions. Robert Johnston, who plays the Harp, was trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow as a pianist and there started his Harp tuition. Lyn Fletcher was on the violin. She has worked as a soloist for many orchestras.
Judith is a composer who studied composition whilst at school in London. She taught composition at the Galwgow University, and held the Hambro visiting professorship in Opera Studies at Oxford University. She is the holder of Critics Circle Award (1994), CBE (1995) and the Lincolm's Stoeger Prize (1997). The concert was organised by the British Council and the ITC Welcomgroup in association with www.Indiamusicinfo.com. S Padma
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
Copyright
2008, Chennai Interactive
Business Services (P) Ltd. |
|
How about a 'kathakalakshepam'in Western style, this was what Future Perfect was all about. It was a captivating concert combining original music by Judith Weir with a beautifully narrated tale by Vayu Naidu accompanied by instrumentalists from the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
(BCMG).
The workshop, conducted prior to the concert, demonstrated the process of clubbing the original music with the written text. The workshop also invited the musicians to come with their instruments and with written text and experience the creation themselves.
Moreover there is no initiation. The very few successful theatre groups existing now are set up by the most interested ones in the field.
Vayu Naidu was born in Delhi and studied in India and the US. She took Europe's first doctorate in performance in storytelling from the University of Leeds in 1994. She is the founder of the Brumhalata Intercultural Storytelling company based in Birmingham. She was the storyteller consultant for Channel 4' 1996/97 series World Faiths.
