As the month of January draws to a close and February is
about to begin, one has much to look forward to, on a musical
front. Let us take for instance, the fact that one of Goa’s most
renowned music festivals, the Monte Music Festival, organised
by Fundação Oriente, looms ever closer. The series of concerts
will be held on February 3, 4 and 5, 2017, in the courtyard as
well as the inside of the Chapel of Our Lady of Mount, Old
Goa. This is the 15th year of the annual festival, and this year’s
edition will focus on the celebration of Goa’s divas.
Speaking on the intriguing choice of theme for this
edition of the festival, Inês Figueira, the Director of Fundação
Oriente, says, “We opted to pay homage to the divas of the
land, primarily because as this is the fifteenth edition of the
festival, there was a dire need to make it Goa-centric. Goa
has a culturally diverse range of female vocalists, and they are
spread across the world. The decision to have them as the
focal point of the event was almost instantaneous. This is the
most apt time to focus on the topic of womanhood and the
strength of women, after all.”
The divas in concert this year will include performances
from the likes of Patricia Rozario, Joanne D’Mello, Sonia
Shirsat and Ragini Rainu, who will each tackle genres that
encapsulate their respective areas of expertise.
Almost like a preclusive curtain raiser to the Monte Music
Festival is ‘Amore’, the 10th Anniversary concert by the NAMAH
Society is all set to unfold on January 30, 2017, at the DMK
Hall, Kala Academy, in Panjim. The line-up of artistes and
performances has been especially designed with the focus on
the theme ‘amore’, Italian for ‘love’. The evening will feature
the Majolly Music Trust Choir from Bangalore, Forefront, Asha
Upadhaya, the Don Bosco College fusion group and the
Namah Chorale accompanied by Nicole Williams and Talking
Drums by Carlos Gonsalves. Students from the National
Association of the Blind will also be showcasing their talent
by way of a performance. The concert is in aid of music
education for the underprivileged in Goa.
A vibrant group comprising Russel D’souza, Melquis
Alvares, Urban Silva, Natasha Fernandes, Riya Naik,
Ninoshka Pinto and Lionel Fernandes will stage the stunning
‘Baba Yetu’, a Swahili folk song, in six voices. The repertoire
for the evening consists of classical choral performances,
moving on to dances in Indian and contemporary styles,
along with popular piano covers and eclectic pop music.
The Majolly Music Trust Choir (MMT Choir) formerly known
as The Camerata, exploded onto the Indian national
music scene in 2001 when the group performed Handel’s
‘Messiah’ in its entirety, with a full-fledged orchestra.
Presenting some popular works like Haydn’s ‘Creation’,
J-S Bach’s ‘Christmas Oratorio’ and Mozart’s ‘Requiem’,
the choir has given several performances around the
country including the South Indian premiere of Carl Orff’s
ever popular ‘Carmina Burana’. Forefront, a local Goan
band which caters to a wide variety of music genres
which include retro, classic rock, Bollywood, Goan and
Portuguese music, will also be performing at the event.
