Bonding through music, in style

BANGALORE: The Bangalore School of Music celebrated its 25th anniversary in the city recently. The school organised a musical evening based on western classical style to celebrate its silver jubilee. The highlight of the evening was the 35- member- orchestra led by the maestro Narayanaswamy. The musicians belonged to different age groups, the youngest one being 11-year-old, Josh who played the cello remarkably.Narayanaswamy said, “Cello is a rare instrument in India. Not many people opt to play this instrument. This lad has almost mastered the instrument at such an young age.” The teachers too wanted a piece of the action. They performed along with the students and created some amazing melodies. The group was complete with few well-wishers from various parts of world, bringing an element of music from their culture.The group covered some of the best pieces by American composers and a few compositions by renowned composers around the world. The crowd was transported to a different world when the group covered the legendary Fiddle Faddle.They played five songs with over 10 different instruments. The band was divided into three sections based on the instruments they were playing. The back section was filled with wind instruments, the section on the right had the violinists and the left was covered by cellos. When all these instruments were played together, it was magical. The music was simply pleasing and it was a great evening to get refreshed for the coming week.Even for a non-music lover, the performance would have been magical by just witnessing all the ‘bows’ dancing together, while they strummed the strings to create music. The sight of these musicians in their suits with a smile on their face while playing a few of the greatest compositions in the world, was just breathtaking. Narayanaswamy said, “It is a gift to witness an orchestra in India.It is hard to find an orchestra with different wind instruments. These instruments are not very popular in the country but even the simplest notes created, are beautiful.” Even though all the songs that they played were Western classical, the band ended the performance by playing the Indian National Anthem. The anthem was performed in an unusual way, something that not many Indians would have heard. It had the tune of the anthem but was played in the Western classical style. This was just the perfect end for a perfect evening. When the organisers felicitated Narayanaswamy he said, “I am not the one who should be felicitated, it is music that must be felicitated. It is because of music that the world has a common language.”