Patna, Jan. 15: The state capital has become a favourite destination of celebrity artistes. After Indian artistes Bhupinder Singh, Alka Yagnik and others enjoyed singing here, Indo-Irish vocalist Anna Tanvir and French guitarist Yann Beaujouan loved performing in the city.
After performing last night at Patna Golf Club, Anna told The Telegraph: “I live in Loire Valley in France, and I have been hearing a lot about the developments going on in Bihar. I was just too eager to perform in Patna. When Dr Ajit Pradhan, the secretary of Navras School of Performing Arts, requested me to perform here, I instantly accepted the proposal.”
Dr Pradhan said: “Artistes have always loved performing here. They all say that Patna has a lot of love for music. They stopped coming here for a while. But I am happy to see that Patna is regaining its past glory. I am a music lover and I have missed these kinds of concerts in Patna all these years. I have invited vocalists from all over India over the years. But now I feel that artistes from abroad should also perform here and that is the reason why I invited Anna and Beaujouan.”
Anna, daughter of theatre artiste Habib Tanvir, holds India in high esteem. She has performed in places like New Delhi, Calcutta, Lucknow and Mumbai. She said: “I love everything about India, I love the diversity and how people of all religion live in harmony here. The country is full of life and colours. I feel at home here.”
Sharing her close association with music from a tender age, Anna said: “I have been brought up in a musical family. My mother, Jill MacDonald, introduced my sister and me to music at a very tender age.”
She said: “During my college days at Dartington College of Arts in England, I got exposed to Tagore’s philosophy and Indian folk music. Since then I have been a huge fan of Indian folk songs.”
Anna said: “I spent some years in Calcutta and learnt Bengali songs.”
Anna understands very little Hindi and is an expert in French, English and Malagasy. Anna said: “Music has nothing to do with language, it is about the feel. I have performed in many countries and in India also. When I perform, people enjoy my songs whether they understand the lyrics or not. Songs have universal feel, the language of music should be expressive and should touch human sentiments.”
About her style of singing, Anna said: “My songs have old and not-so-old melodies that transcend national and language barriers. I present universally relevant stories of life and love through music from Ireland, Scotland, France and Madagascar.”
When asked if given a chance she would sing for Hindi films or not, Anna said: “I would love to but I think I won’t be able to do justice as I feel my pronunciation is not apt. I would love to sing in my own style. The lyrics will be mine but music will be very Indian.”
Anna said she plans to settle down in India in future.
