Hills alive with sound of music via contest: Submissions invited from all over, from Kashmir to Arunachal, Nepal and Bhutan

 Warnamala Pariwar, a Darjeeling-based organisation promoting ethnic music, along with a cross-cultural band The Three Seas Music, the Bengaluru-based School of Policy and Governance, and the Association for Conservation of Tourism (ACT) are organising the Himalayan Ethnic Singing Competition

A panoramic view of Darjeeling, where the mountains inspire many notes.: File picture

TT, 16.10.24 :  Music from across the Himalayan belt starting from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, including Nepal and Bhutan, is set to echo in a common platform through a unique competition for the first time.

Warnamala Pariwar, a Darjeeling-based organisation promoting ethnic music, along with a cross-cultural band The Three Seas Music, the Bengaluru-based School of Policy and Governance, and the Association for Conservation of Tourism (ACT) are organising the Himalayan Ethnic Singing Competition.

“The Himalayan Ethnic Singing Competition is a competition for ethnic music starting from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh and also Nepal and Bhutan. This is an effort to keep the music of this region alive and thriving and to also bring it together on a common platform,” said Deoashish Mothey, founder, Warnamala.

The Siliguri City Centre, the venue of the performance.: File picture

The first-of-its-kind initiative, he said, has been taken to bring together folk music across from theHimalayan belt.

“This is the first time that such a competition is being held. As organisers, we too are excited as we are generating much interest not just from the Indian Himalayan region but also from Bhutan and Nepal,” said Mothey.

Those interested in the competition will have to post their video either on a WhatsApp number +91 7679842361 or email thesame to warnamalapariwar@gmail.com.

“The entries are open till December 5,” said Mothey, adding that submissions were on.

The culmination of the Himalayan music will be in the foothills of Siliguri, which will provide a rare opportunity for the people of the plains to witness the songs from the different mountains.

Those selected from the virtual entries will feature at the Himalayan Folk Festival that will be held at the City Centre in Siliguri on January 10,11 and 12, 2025.

“The winners will also collaborate with The Three Seas Music and also perform during the festival,” said Mothey.

The Himalayan region has a vast and eclectic range of musical instruments ranging from the santoor, the rabab and the tumbaknari in Kashmir to the madal, the dhyangro, the Tibetan laha, the Pancha baja, the Nau baja and cymbals in the rest ofthe region.

The Three Seas Music, a band that has Matt Keegan and Steve Elphic from Australia, Cameroon Deylle from New Zealand, Deoashish from Darjeeling, Raju Das Baul from Shantiniketan, and Gaurav Chatterjee of the Lakkhichhara band fame from Calcutta has made waves in Australia with their “experiment fusion”.

They have performed at some venues in Australia in the past.

In India, they have also performed in Kochi, Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta andDarjeeling.

The band fuses jazz and rock with the folk music of the plains and Himalayan region.

They have already come up with two albums titled, Haveli, and the other is named Fathers, Sons and Brothers.

A song titled Haveli sung in Nepali language was recorded in a haveli in Rajasthan in an attempt to capture the spirit of a kite festival.

“We are experimenting with inter-cultures and it has been a beautiful journey.The competition is an extension of the experience,” said Mothey.

Courtesy & source: The Telegraph

https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/hills-alive-with-sound-of-music-via-contest-submissions-invited-from-all-over-from-kashmir-to-arunachal-nepal-and-bhutan/cid/2055830