JOIN USThe Majolly Music Trust recently presented the ‘Young Performer Concert Series’ at the Theme Piano World in Koramangala. As part of the show, Srikanth Gnanasekaran, a pianist from Chennai and Bianca Mendonca, a cello artiste from Mumbai performed. They were accompanied by Bangalore’s child prodigy, Neville Z Barucha on the piano.
The young artistes managed to captivate the audience with their strains and melodies with much ease and comfort. Srikanth Gnanasekaran is an aeronautical engineer who also teaches music part time. “Concerts like these don’t happen very often. A lot of young talent is brought out before the public through shows like this. Personally, it was a great opportunity for me to showcase what I am capable of,” he says. Srikanth played a string of western classical pieces like Handel’s ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’, Beethoven’s ‘Sonata No 27’ , Gershwin’s ‘Three Preludes’ and Chopin’s ‘Waltz’.
Bianca Mendonca, a cellist who has recorded for jingles and Bollywood films like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, ‘Ladies Vs Ricky Behl’ and Jab Tak Hai Jaan, says, “It was a wonderful experience to be performing with other artistes who are from the same age group as mine. Since we are all from different cities, we only had two days to put the show together, so it was a little stressful. But it came out really well.”
Neville, who accompanied Bianca on the piano, also plays the keyboard for Bangalore-based band ‘One Nite Stand’. He says, “Unfortunately, there is a diminishing audience for western classical music because of the lack of good pianos. But there are still a few shows like this happening in the City, where young musicians are encouraged and traditional music is given so much appreciation.”
Neecia Majolly, the founder and trustee of the Majolly Music Trust was very happy with the performance of the artists. “I have been into music since a very young age and I know how difficult it is to find a concrete platform for a career in music in a country like India. We try to give young musicians that opportunity and platform so that they can showcase their talent and bring out the best in themselves. It is very heartening and encouraging to see more young people opting for music which is very heavy, intense and serious.”
Nisha Sinha, a piano teacher, adds, “I really liked the standard and level of the performers. It was so nice to hear such quality music from artistes who are this young. The inter-city collaboration of artistes was another interesting aspect about the performance. The show was very enjoyable.”