JOIN USFoundation marks 20th year milestone
A foundation dedicated to the harmonium will host a unique event on Friday.
The Bijapure Harmonium Foundation was set up in May 2003 “to create a platform for harmonium players who wanted to explore the instrument, its integrity, and present it in front of the audience”.
Founded by Ravindra Gururaj Katoti and advocate K J Kamath, the foundation “was dedicated to the cause of promoting harmonium as a solo instrument”. To that end, the group frequently organises harmonium-centric concerts and events. “We have held around 150-200 harmonium festivals and other thematic events in the past two decades. Though the harmonium is labelled an accompanying instrument, we wanted to bring out its individuality,” explains Katoti.
The foundation hosted the world’s first Harmonium Summit in 2018 to mark the centenary year of Katoti’s guru Pandit Rambhau Bijapure. “A hundred harmoniums were played together then and we presented some classical compositions,” he shares, adding that their second summit was held in 2020. Both the summits featured different genres of music such as carnatic, Hindustani, devotional, western classical jazz, and European folk.
In addition to hosting events, they also train young artistes from multiple countries such as the US and Australia. “We have trained around 300 students and introduced around 10-15 performers to the circuit,” says Katoti. Katoti and his team have also brought out archival audio albums of music by Pandit Rambhau Bijapure, in association with Lahari Music; a biography of him called Swarayana, a translation of ‘Kalpana Sangeetha’ (Marathi) by artiste Govindrao Tembe, and a documentary on Pandit Rambhau Bijapure’s life and achievements, called ‘Meru’.
Special concert today
Amritmala, a series of 75 ragas, will be performed on May 19. “There are 75 ragas, arranged into a ragamala, according to the ‘samaychakra’ (time wheel). This includes compositions written by me - their lyrics were written by me and they are conceptualised by me,” he says.
This is a first-of-its kind performance. “Ragamalas are usually performed as part of a concert but here ragamalas are the focus of the show,” Kakoti adds.
Entry free. On May 19, 6 pm at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Vyalikaval