Melodious tunes with a message

A  relaxing evening awaited one and all at the Leela Galleria recently as a beautiful music session was organised at the venue. Held at the Oxford Bookstore, the session was organised in association with the Wigan Field.

Titled ‘A Musical Journey’, it was presented by eminent musician Johnny, who enthralled one and all with his rendition of many well-known songs.  The session was aimed at providing a melodious evening with a message to spread the ‘universal
language’ of music.

Be it lovely Hindi tunes like Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaaye, Pehla Nasha, Ae Zindagi Gale Laga Le or Kannada classics like Hombisilu and Neerabittu Neladamele, Johnny had everyone mesmerised.

He even played Tamil tunes like Mouna Raagam’s Mandram Vantha on the request of the crowd. Kids of all ages comprised a major part of the audience and showed a keen interest in the concert.

Said Aruna, one of the organisers, “This can be considered as a prelude to a number of activities that I will be organising for children in the coming days.”

As Johnny took a break after playing a host of melodious tunes, members of the audience (including kids) took turns playing the piano thereby making the entire session extremely
interesting.

During the second session, Johnny played another set of popular tunes like the old song Yeh Raatein Yeh Mausam and ‘Bombay’ theme song along with his own compositions as well.

A master pianist and an expert in playing Western and Indian classical music, Johnny has worked with renowned singers/actors like P B Srinivas, Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan and Shivarajkumar.  He has also worked on a few projects in the Tamil film industry.

“The crowd has been really encouraging,” he said.  

“I started learning on the harmonium first and then slowly moved on to the piano. I then joined the William Joseph International Academy for Performing Arts and now have an institute of my own,” added the City-based musician.

He also said he may have a few other concerts coming up in the City though
nothing has been finalised so far. Sandhya, a marketing consultant who was a member of the audience, enjoyed the session completely.

“He is a good player,” she said. However, she had one complaint.

“It should have been more interactive. If he could talk and explain each of the
songs he was playing, it would have been informative,” she added.