The music aficionados of Goa are
in for a treat, as musicians from Europe, the Middle East and India will be
gathering under one roof to perform at the Ketevan World Sacred Music Festival.
The event will be a melange of different styles of music such as Carnatic,
Christian, Sufi, Hindustani, Jewish and Orthodox. As music is called the international
language (and soul language), there is no better way to learn to live with one
another that through music.
The Ketevan World Sacred Music Festival to be held in Old
Goa combines musical traditions from different eras from the East and the West.
“The name Ketevan comes from Queen Ketevan of Georgia who traveled thousands of
kilometres, through varied cultures around the world. She began her journey in
Eastern Europe as queen of the Kingdom of Georgia. In Iran, Ketevan died as a
martyr after long and painful torments in the year 1624. But Ketevan’s journey did
not end in Iran. According to legend, in 1627, her remains were taken to India
and buried in Old Goa by two Augustinian monks, who were devout witnesses of
the last years of her life. This is the reason why the festival is hosted at
the St Augustine tower, Old Goa,” briefs Santiago Lusardi, Art director of
the Ketevan Music Festival.
He continues, “The festival was born to inspire a place of
artistic, spiritual and musical dialogue. We will present concerts where
artists can share their art with artists from other traditions to develop the
idea of the artistic coexistence. We assume the difficult task of intercultural
dialogue and tolerance with immense respect and understanding of all
traditions. Our team includes experts and advisers in artistic and
inter-religious dialogue to ensure that each participant finds in our festival
a space to share their art and heritage in tolerant and respectful dialogue.”
The event
will be held over two weekends between February 12 and February 21 and will
witness several music programs, courses and conferences in the varied realms of
sacred music including Carnatic, Christian, Sufi, Hindustani, Jewish and
Orthodox.
”The
festival will have a strong social commitment, where the musicians will perform
small shows for local villages, orphanages and hospices with the aim of
spreading the love of music and education to every stratum of society,” says Santiago.
It will
also hold a combination of master classes, workshops and lectures conducted by
noted musicians in collaboration with the Goa University and the University of
Seville, Spain. A special programme will also be held for a select group of
students to train with international artistes from Asia and Europe, to perform
at the Festival.
“We were working on this project
for the last two years to bring together different sacred and spiritual music of
the world under one roof. Around 60 European musicians are coming down. Apart
from them, we have Indian musicians like flautist Rakesh Chaurasia and pianist
Ustav Lal,” says Santiago.
The
festival will be hosting a music symposium series at the Central Library
with workshops and lectures presented by internationally acclaimed music
professors. Some of the key musicians who will be a part of the
festival include Chaurasia –basuri (India), Santiago Lusardi Girelli –
orchestra and choir conductor (Argentina-Italy), Leo Rossi – baroque violin
(Argentina), Ustav Lal – piano raga (India), Ignacio Monteverde – flamenco
guitar (UK), Marilena Fernandes – classical western music pianist
(India-Austria) among many others.
