St. Paul’s Cathedral glowed with the strains of Bach’s music as Christian-Pierre La Marca braved the humidity and heat of Saturday evening to play the cello with great intensity that heightened the meditative quality of his style acclaimed world-wide. He was playing at the Concert for Peace organised by the Alliance Francaise du Bengale in association with The Telegraph. La Marca’s performance was preceded by piano recitals by Jennifer Heemstra and young Kanishka Saha. La Marca has been a guest of major international music festivals and has collaborated with many high-profile artistes. Here he had chosen to play three Bach Suites as they complemented the theme of the concert and also the venue. Jennifer Heemstra, who was wearing a black sari with red border, has performed as soloist and chamber musician as well as theatrical accompanist and coach throughout the US and Europe. She played pieces from Brahms, Debussy and Enrique Granados. She has been living here since March. Kanishka Saha played Chopin and Listz. The concert concluded with the Peace Song sponsored by the Academy for Musical Excellence, which provides musical training for underprivileged children. Picture by Rashbehari Das