An evening of melodies with The Kolkata Symphony Orchestra at Taj Bengal, with t2
An evening of melodies with The Kolkata Symphony Orchestra at Taj Bengal, with t2
Good music, good deeds and great cheer — the Kolkata Symphony Orchestra’s maiden performance, supported by the Calcutta Foundation, in association with t2, and hosted by Taj Bengal on April 22, had all of it.
TT Bureau
Published 03.05.18, 12:00 AM
(Clockwise from bottom left) The Kolkata Symphony Orchestra overwhelmed the audience
The young Atmadeep R. Pradhan played Agustin Barrios Mangore’s El Ultimo Tremolo on the guitar.
Good music, good deeds and great cheer — the Kolkata Symphony Orchestra’s maiden performance, supported by the Calcutta Foundation, in association with t2, and hosted by Taj Bengal on April 22, had all of it.
Artistes such as Joseph Hopkins, dean of the School of the Arts at Samford University, singer Sasha Ghoshal, vocalist Soumyojit Das and pianist Sourendro Mullick joined the Orchestra in the Crystal hall for performances of Western classical musical pieces. The set included 1st Movement of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, the Holberg Suite by Edvard Grieg and songs from Broadway musicals like West Side Story and The Phantom of the Opera.
The fundraising event was the brainchild of Meeryung Hall and Malika Varma. Meeryung also took the stage to sing Skeeter Davis’s End of the World. Glimpses from the soiree...
Craig L. Hall, the US consul-general, Michael Feiner, the German consul-general, Bruce Bucknell, the British deputy high commissioner, and Masayuki Taga, the Japanese consul-general, sang If I were a Rich Man from Fiddler on the Roof
Sasha Ghoshal and Meeryung Hall performed the duet Somewhere from West Side Story
Sourendro Mullick played along during Soumyojit’s performance of Amir Khusrau’s Aye ri sakhi mora kiya jai
Soumyojit Das and Joseph Hopkins sang an Indo-Western fusion of Beautiful Dreamer and Lag ja gale
(From top) US consul-general Craig L. Hall’s paintings and artworks from Ganges art gallery, contributed by Smita Bajoria, were part of an exhibition, the proceeds from which went towards helping the orchestra.
“The cause is fabulous. I am looking forward to Craig’s paintings, because I’ve been following him on Instagram! I think the whole event has been very well put together, and I want to congratulate Meeryung on it,” said Madhu Neotia.
For mother-daughter duo of Shamlu Dudeja and Malika Varma, the event had a strong personal resonance. “Sanjib Mondol was one of the boys from the Calcutta Foundation Orchestra. The Kolkata Symphony Orchestra is the second generation, as I call it, of the Calcutta Foundation Orchestra. Sanjib is the one who started all this. I’m very proud that he has been able to accomplish all of this,” said Dudeja (right), the chairperson of the Calcutta Foundation.
Odissi exponent Sanchita Bhattacharya
“The evening, apart from the singular pieces of music spanning so may different genres, was made even more special by the fact that it was Earth Day. I couldn’t think of a more beautiful way to celebrate the lives of people on earth,” said Amita Prasad, dean, research and development at The Heritage School.
(L-R) Salil Chatterjee; Terence Hamilton Ireland, principal of St. James’ School; Reverend Paritosh Canning, vice-chairman, diocese of Calcutta, Church of North India, and John A.K. Ghosh, principal of of St. Thomas’ Boys’ School.
The founder of Kolkata Youth Orchestra, Sanjib Mondol, was felicitated at the do. “This orchestra is for the city, not for me. I believe that through music, we can change our lives. Only after getting a lot of help from a lot of people, could I go abroad and study music. Now I want to extend my support to others. For Western music, we need help from global musicians who will help to create the right culture. It encourages the players as well as the audience,” said Sanjib, the man behind the Kolkata Symphony Orchestra.
“My husband used to say that he would like to break barriers through music. Today, this happened on stage when we saw the four consul generals singing together. I think only artistes can create this bond,” said danseuse Tanusree Shankar.
The dinner spread curated by executive chef Sonu Koithara included a yummy dessert corner that featured, among other items, a Filter Coffee ice cream that simply flew off the shelves. A chocolate buttercream cake in the shape of a violin in celebration of both the birth of Kolkata Symphony Orchestra and Shamlu Dudeja’s upcoming birthday was an eye-catcher.
