JOIN USIn celebration of the talent and potential of fledglings who have only just sprouted their wings in the world of music, ‘Bhoomija Trust’ organised ‘Jackfruit Festival’, a festival of music for children and by children.
Explaining the idea behind the name, veena exponent Jayanthi, who along with violinist Kumaresh is the director of the edition, said, “First of all, the fact is that most of the Indian classical music instruments are made out of jackfruit. Also, knowledge is like a jackfruit – it’s tough on the outside and when you really get at it, it’s sweet on the inside.”
She added that it’s also a simplified name that children could associate with as opposed to a more formal name. The festival is being celebrated over two weekends in three different venues, starting with Brigade MLR in JP Nagar on May 30 till June 1. The celebration then moves to Chowdaiah Memorial Hall on June 6, and then goes on to Jagriti Theatre, Whitefield, till June 8.
Like the layers of jackfruit, the festival unravels in four layers. The first two layers are that of the fest itself, one being the world premiere of Roysten Abel’s ‘The Mangiyar Classroom’, a massive production with 40 Mangiyar boys aged 9-14 from Rajasthan; the second being ‘Vidwan’ Vikku Vinayakaram’s direction and performance alongside a taala-vaadya ensemble of children, which will both mark the launch and end of the festival.
The third layer consists of concerts that will be presented by eight child prodigies in hour-long performances in Carnatic and Hindustani music. The fourth and final layer — the workshops — will oversee 18 well-known musicians, across 34 workshops for children, each of which will culminate in a five-minute foyer show by the students.
Explaining how they’ve sourced young talent from across the nation, Gayathri Krishna, founder-trustee of the organisation, explained, “It was made very easy by Spicmacay, who’d done a programme called ‘Naad Bhed’, a reality show for kids in classical music and we dug into their lists of participants, and their finalists.”
The organisation is very passionate about this festival. “Somehow in India, many groups do a fest and go away and don’t do anything sustained. They probably don’t do much for children either. So with a mandate to do both, we’ve organised this”, she added. Tickets for the shows and registrations can be made on bookmyshow.com