Pune will get to witness a music programme with a difference
Around the city — By The Desk on January 12, 2010 at 11:59 AMIndian Express: Two thousand six hundred and fifty vocalists on one stage and an expected audience of over one lakh. Pune will get to witness a music programme with a difference, both in terms of acoustics and logistics, at the S P College grounds on Tuesday.
Called Antarnaad, the event has been organised by Art of Living Foundation which intends to bring people together with the power of music.
While the vocalists, led by veterans like Pandit Rajan, Pandit Sajan Mishra and Shankar Mahadevan, will perform eight Hindustani classical renditions composed by different musicians, the audience will be invited to join in the Ganesh Aarti ‘Sukhakarta Dukhaharta’ and the national song ‘Vande Maataram.’
The foundation has plans to send this data to the Guinness Book of World Records, as an event that saw the largest number of people singing together.
“Antarnaad aims to preserve and revive our country’s vast and rich culture, and since Hindustani classical music is one of the mainstays of Indian culture, it has been chosen as the medium to bring all these people together,” said Kedar Pandit, who along with Vrushali Katkar, has arranged the music for the event.
“The programme will bring people from all walks of life together, bound only by the love of music,” said Pandit. Thus you have vocalists from rural Maharashtra rubbing shoulders with a young collegian from Pune. A whole lot of people have come from areas like Sangli, Nanded, Solapur, Satara and Dhule. Some of the vocalists are physically challenged, he said.
Sudha Dattatreya Upadhya, the senior most artist in the symphony, said, “It is amazing to be a part of this magnificent event. In my musical career, I have never been part of such an endeavour. The songs and compositions are ‘Arthapurna,’ and touch the core of one’s being.”
The compositions are based on evening melodies from ancient ragas in the Gandharva Veda — Shree, Purya Dhanashree, Des, Basant Bahar, Chandrakauns, Shankara, Kalavati, Janasammohini and Bhoop.
While the hunt for qualified vocalists started some while ago, the rehearsals have been going on for the past month. CDs of all the songs were sent to the participants and initial rehearsals were conducted in the cities where the artists stayed. The entire group, with members from Delhi, Goa, Baroda, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Agra, Chennai and many other cities arriving in Pune, along with artists from all over Maharashtra, came together for combined rehearsals only four days ago.
“The enthusiasm that we saw in every participant is so great that you feel the oneness of the group,” said Katkar
The platform being created for this event is a huge 27,000 sq ft stage with a 20-ft high backdrop. Starting at a height of 6” and going up to 18”. A completely mobile wooden stage is being erected without any digging, so that there is no damage to the ground which is a playfield. A hi-tech sound system with 80 microphones is also part of the logistics.
The Art of Living had earlier entered the Guinness Book of World Records with 1,200 Mohiniyattam dancers performing together on one stage on its silver jubilee celebrations in 2006.
* Organised by Art of Living Foundation, Antarnaad intends to bring people together.
* Vocalists including Pandit Rajan, Pandit Sajan Mishra and Shankar Mahadevan will perform eight Hindustani classical renditions
* Audience will be invited to join in Ganesh Aarti and sing the national song Vande Maataram
* Performers include physically challenged
* Stage set for the event is 27,000 sq ft big with a 20-ft high backdrop
* Mobile wooden stage to avoid digging for ground
