Music unifies East and West in Darj

Amitava Banerjee , THT, Darjeeling, 6 March 2014: It was East meets West in Darjeeling. New York-based violinist Michael Braudy performed with Allan Wicks, Canterbury Cathedral organist, and children of the Gandhi Ashram for concerts in Kalimpong and Darjeeling recently.

Braudy is a violinist who specialises in Western classical, Celtic and Indian Classical music. He has been playing the violin for the past 50 years, having started at the age of 9. The veteran musician feels that there is a deep connection between the Ragas and Celtic music.

“My first tryst with Indian music was in 1968 when I had heard Pandit Ravi Shanker perform in New York. Immediately I fell in love with Indian music. I have been regularly visiting India trying to find a connection between the Ragas and Celtic music. Three years ago I started changing Ragas to Celtic pieces,” said Braudy talking to HT. “There are 5 note scales both in the Ragas and Celtic music,” he added. He also feels that there is a cultural and spiritual connection between the two.

Braudy is studying Indian music under renowned Gurus including Acharya Roop Verma, Pandit VG Jog and Pandit Krishna Bhatt. This is Braudy’s ninth visit to India and the first to the Darjeeling Hills. “In Mumbai, I met a music teacher who hails from Gandhi Ashram. From her I learnt about the Ashram and visited it. After a brief stint with the boys I decided that we should perform together. There is a lot of potential in the field of music here. Youths should pursue careers in music. In future also I would like to undertake a project with the Gandhi Ashram,” he added.

With music as the unifying fire, Braudy with the violinists from Gandhi Ashram mesmerised audiences in Kalimpong and Darjeeling. Together they played pieces —Passacaglia for solo violin by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber; A movement for unaccompanied violin by JS Bach; A piece by contemporary New York composer Rain Worthington along with Celtic music, traditional tunes and pieces inspired by Indian Ragas. The concerts were organised by Darjeeling Goodwill Centre, Himalayan Institute of Goodwill and Living Ethics in collaboration with Hayden Hall.

Suraj Chettri, 15, from Kalimpong said, “I thoroughly enjoyed performing with Micheal Braudy. It was a unique experience for us.” For Chettri, coming from a humble background, both music and Gandhi Ashram have been two greatest motivational factors of his life. He has already performed in Delhi, Mumbai and of course in Darjeeling Hills.

The Gandhi Ashram was a dream project of Father Ed McGuire, a Jesuit priest from Canada. The origin of the project can be traced back to his days as a teacher at the St. Robert’s High School, Darjeeling. Here Father McGuire discovered that many children of parents who were coolies (porters) had very little opportunity for education. After school hours, he started a programme for children, which included gymnastics and western classical music, mainly the violin.

In 1994, Father McGuire was asked to start a similar project in Kalimpong. Thus was born the Gandhi Ashram School. The unique feature of the school lies in its training in violin. The training begins in grade 1, and by the time the students reach grade 3 or 4, they can play many of the great masters of western classical music. The school has now become very well known for its string orchestra.

Talking to HT, organist Allan Wicks said, “I have heard youth orchestras all over the world. All of them have advantages undreamt of by Gandhi Ashram boys.”