Mesmerising musical tribute to maestro Rehman

It was a melodious blend of Berklee Indian Ensemble, Indian classical, pop, blues and rock vocalists, who collectively brought out the power of music at the 54th Bengaluru Ganesha Utsava on Tuesday, at National High Sc­hool Grounds, Basavanagudi.

Berklee College of Music’s Berklee India Ensemble paid tribute to Grammy Award-winning composer A R Rahman with a vocal medley of some of his most popular work. The tunes of ‘Dil Se Re’, ‘Jiya Jale’, ‘Raasathi En Usiru’ echoed across Bengaluru’s soundscape. The ensemble, comprising over 40 musicians and singers from 22 countries, performed a repertoire of Carnatic and Hindustani classical music with Sufi, contemporary and Indo-jazz compositions. Raghu Dixit with his up-tempo, soulful and earthy act besides Vijay Prakash and the ensemble’s own reinterpretation of the songs, were truly a blast. Annette Philip, vocalist, and Berklee alumna, who is taking Indian music to the world in her own way, said: “The diversity reflects in our music. And the fact that we can celebrate music despite our different backgrounds is what people got to listen.”

The evening began with the performance of Tejas and Pranav Manjunath’s extensive repertoire, which included diverse genres at the Utsava. Popularly known as ‘Boston Brothers,’ the versatile violin artistes trained mainly in Carnatic classical tradition, effortlessly incorporated Western and Hindustani music styles that enthralled the audience.

Notwithstanding the ongoing protests against the Supreme Court order on releasing Cauvery water, the audience whistled to a few sizzling Tamil movie numbers.