More than 24,000 people are expected to show up for a gala music festival starting next week.
The Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam (BKS) stage is all set to celebrate a Music and Dance Extravaganza named as The BKS Indo-Bahrain Dance and Music Festival organised under the patronage of the Indian Embassy with the support of Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (Baca).
“The excitement is growing because of the elegance of the lineup of illustrious and legendary performers scheduled to take stage continuously for 12 days from Tuesday until May 14,” revealed P V Radhakrishna Pillai during a Press brief yesterday.
“We are expecting full house crowds of 2,000 people each night,” he added.
“This is a massive event that everyone has been waiting for after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted.”
The festival will begin on Tuesday with the performance of soulful Gazal Music night by Anup Jalota and his accompaniments. The next day will witness Bharathanatyam performance by film star and dancer Asha Sharath based on Sugathakumari’s “Krishna Nee Enne Ariyilla”.
On May 5, Stephen Devassy, Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Attukal Balsubrahmaniam and Amith Nadig will take to the stage for a music magic orchestra. The following evening Instrumental exponents Violin duo Ganesh and Kumereh accompanied by Vidwan Patri Satishkumar will enthrall the audience.
Abhishek Raghuram, Vidwan H N Bhaskar, Vidwan Patri Satishkumar along with Sukanya Ramgopal will perform Carnatic vocal on May 7 and the following day will feature another Carnatic music exponent with a voice of nightingale Nityasree Mahadevan supported by Tanujashree and instrumental performers Raghavendra Rao on violin Praveen Sparsh on mridangam and Sukanya Ramgopal on ghadam. Another exciting dance drama production from Bahrain ‘Buddha The Divine’ by Vidyasree and 60 versatile dancers will be staged on May 9.
The music composition is by Palakad Sreeram and lyrics by L Sampathkumar.
One of South India’s most favourite singers and music directors M Jayachandran will take to the stage on May 10 accompanied by schoolmates Sankaran Namboothiri, Sreevalsan Menon, Lalu Sukumar and their accompaniments. Artists from Bahrain will perform on May 11. The famous Bahrain Band Majaz will be playing and the Kathak Dance performance by Khalil Alasher will be another highlight.
On May 12, a classical instrumental night will feature Mysore Nagaraj and Dr Maysore Manjunath on violin, accompanied by Thiruvaroor Bahakthavalsalam on mridangam and Alappuzha R Karunamoorthy on tavil and Giridhar Udupa on ghatam.
Veena exponent Rajesh Vaidhya and his team – Bhuvanesh, Kumaran, Mohan and Sai Hari – will take to the stage on May 13.
The finale will be on May 14 with the highlight of the festival world renowned Sarod trio Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Aman Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash.
The festival is curated by one of India’s foremost art directors Soorya Krishnamoorthy. Soorya is one of the largest cultural bodies in the Southeast of Asia with chapters around the world. Soorya has successfully staged several shows in Bahrain to its credit.
For further details, please contact Mr Pillai on 39691590 or Varghese Karakkal on 39617620.
Mohammed@gdn.com.bh