Fort High School Ramanavami music season opens March 30

Sree Ramaseva Mandali has been organising this annual fete every year since 1939

The 85th edition of the Sree Ramanavami Global Music Festival is returning to Bengaluru on March 30. It will run till April 30 at Old Fort High School Grounds, Chamarajpet.

Sree Ramaseva Mandali R C Trust has been organising this annual fete every year since 1939.

Bombay Jayashri will perform the inaugural concert and 300 artistes will feature over a span of a month. Sudha Raghunathan, Vishaka Hari, Ranjani Gayatri, Mysore Nagaraj and Mysore Manjunath are among the 32 senior artistes slated to perform. Also on the line-up are 20 junior artistes such as Ramana Balachandran, Spoorthy Rao, Varijasri, and Bhargavi Venkatram.

“In a bid to attract youngsters to the event, we have invited Harish Sivaramakrishnan, lead musician of the band ‘Agam’, to present a Carnatic classical concert. U Rajesh, Drums Sivamani, and Harmeet will present a fusion concert,” says S N Varadaraj, managing trustee.

A Harikatha concert by Dushyanth Sridhar and party, and a concert by Malladi Brothers are also scheduled. The organising team changes the line-up of artistes as per the changing preferences of the audience, Varadaraj says.

Unlike the last two editions which followed a hybrid model, this edition will be held fully offline. Varadaraj is expecting around 4 lakh spectators because he says the experience of watching “live concerts is unparalleled”.

Concerts aside, the Mandali will announce two of its key projects. Kala Saketa — The Mandali Centre for Performing Arts will offer sound engineering skill training courses under the state government’s CMKVY scheme. Spanning six months, these courses will be held in Bengaluru and free of cost for students from economically weaker sections. Gau Saketa — The Mandali Centre for Conservation of Indigenous Cattle at Hiriyur taluk in Chitradurga is their second project. It is also a shelter for destitute cattle.

Additionally, S V N Rao Global Award for Music will be presented to flautist Pravin Godkindhi on March 31. He will perform a jugalbandi concert with Ambi Subramaniam after the felicitation.

Parking space
The schoolground has a parking capacity for around 500 vehicles.

Entry
Tickets for the 32-day music extravaganza are priced at Rs 500 and Rs 2,500 depending on the seating. Daily passes are available. Visit ramanavamitickets.
org or call 94480 79079/94835 18012 for details.