Gayathri Krishna, Managing Trustee of Bhoomija Trust, all the time wished to title the belief’s signature music festival for youngsters ‘Jackfruit’. She remembers broaching this to Jayanthi Kumaresh, one of the primary administrators of the festival, who cherished the thought. “She said that it was a great name for the festival because we are talking about the pursuit of music here, which (like a jackfruit) is very thorny and unwieldy when you begin,” she says.
If you resolve to purchase this thorny, unwieldy fruit, it’s “sticky and you can’t do anything with it.” Persist lengthy sufficient, nevertheless, and also you get to “one of the best fruits that you have eaten in your life.”
The title has clearly struck a chord. The Jackfruit Festival, organised in affiliation with the Indian Music Experience Museum and the Prestige Centre for Performing Arts, and supported by Arundhati Moorti Philanthropies, is now all equipped for its seventh edition. The festival, which has famend Indian classical vocalist and composer Shubha Mudgal as Festival Director, will function two live shows by kids under 16, and 5 workshops performed by maestros together with Begum Parween Sultana, B Jayashri, Ranjit Barot, Sudhir Nayak and Sriranjani Santhanagopalan.
“In the process of curating for Jackfruit, I also realised that while we are able to identify very gifted children each year, it is also necessary to create an audience and an environment for them that is conducive to their progress in the future,” says Shubha.
For her, such an atmosphere would supply the featured artistes with the time and alternatives to mingle with one another, study one another’s music, work as a crew, be respectful of one another and of the artistes and specialists working with them, and revel in one another’s music and expertise.
“A young artiste featured in Jackfruit will therefore learn about other forms and styles of music, even as they come prepared to share the music they are studying,” she says. Also, in her opinion, music training is a vital facet of the initiative. “Therefore, our workshops are open not just to children but to adults too.”
Two live shows
Raghav Krishna
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The first live performance, the Jackfruit 2025 Songsters, conceptualised, curated, and directed by Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan, will function 150 faculty college students below the age of 16, drawn from throughout the nation and provide a various musical expertise.
These will embody common melodies, theatre songs, regional tunes, and Carnatic classics, chosen in collaboration with musicians corresponding to Bombay Jayashri, Varijashree Venugopal, MD Pallavi, Priya Saraiya, Shantanu Herlekar, and Shatavisha Mukherjee.
“Shubha’s idea, this time, was to have a show with children from schools that have a music programme in their curriculum,” says Gayathri. “The beauty is that these children are not learning music in a formal classical way, but from their teachers at school, and are singing, literally, for the joy of it.”
Shubha feels that by that includes totally different kinds of music, the variety of Indian music turns into obvious to the artistes and listeners. According to her, it additionally fosters trade of data and expertise, and presents new methods of communication. “Abstract art, per se, is an equaliser and has no space for hierarchies, and therefore we welcome all artistes coming from different backgrounds and circumstances with equal fervour.”
Shubha Mudgal
| Photo Credit:
Nitin Joshi
The second live performance, Musicking Into the Future, alternatively, options some younger expertise of Indian classical music, together with Aishani Paul (Hindustani vocal), Arnav Mokashi (Sitar), Raghav Krishna (Mandolin), Rakshitha Ramji (Carnatic vocal), accompanied by Abhinav Kandala (Carnatic Violin), Pradyumna Karpur (Tabla), Siddhanth Anand (Mridangam), and Shreeraksha Shanbhog (Harmonium).
“In the last two years, we presented a concert series titled Singing into the Future, featuring young vocalists learning different styles and traditions,” explains Shubha, including that this yr, instrumentalists have been included in this format. “I am happy that we are able to include instrumentalists this year, because in the past, we were only able to feature instrumentalists as accompanying artists.”
As somebody who has been curating this music festival for 3 years now, Shubha firmly believes that this course of of figuring out and choosing younger artistes for this festival opens one’s eyes to the abundance of expertise and the numerous gurus and mentors throughout the nation who’re nurturing the expertise of younger artists with quiet dedication.
“With Jackfruit, we try to provide a space to share talent, but with due care to acknowledge that these are young artistes under training, and for this reason, we do not include any child without consulting their respective guardians, gurus and institutions,” says Shubha. “I feel it can be crucial to keep this attitude and acknowledge the contribution of the gurus and guardians who’ve nurtured the expertise of our younger featured artistes. “
The detailed schedule of the festival is on the market on Bhoomija’s social media pages, and tickets can be found on BookMyShow. For extra particulars, contact@bhoomija.org/ 9743734630.
