Travel restrictions and social distancing didn’t dampen our spirits for the 5th TUB, which offered a semblance of normalcy and community bonding.
We brought in the Violin-Mridangam family from London- the much sought after accompanists by top tier artists from Chennai who visit the UK. Eldest of the brothers Gnanasundaram Desigar and his children (Chaithanyaram & Tapaswini) enthralled us on the violin, while the younger brother Somasundaram Desigar accompanied them on the mridangam.
Face masks in the pictures remind us of a challenging and unfamiliar time, yet the evening helped all of us immerse in something familiar and comforting.
As part of India’s 75th year of independence celebrations, we hosted the Violin Lalgudi siblings, Sangitha Kalanidhi awardees GJR Krishnan and GJR Vijayalakshmi for workshops, lecture-demonstration and an evening concert titled Anubhava (experience). The western classical violinists attending the workshop at the Leuven Conservatory of music (SLAC) were blown away by the complexity (listening to scores in mathematical progression!) yet the beauty of our music that renders itself to improvisation on the go!
