Concert Report: The Geetanjali, Indian Classical Music Concert

The Geetanjali is an Indian classical music concert that is based on the Tamil film. In essence, it brings together Indians in Seattle, both students, and their parents to have fun with their classical music. This event features select songs from typical Indian movies that are significant and whose taste never fade. This paper is a concert report based on the 14th Annual Tamil Concert held in Seattle last year. This event was dubbed Asha for Education as the concert was fundamentally held to support the education of the Indian children in Seattle.

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The audience was majorly Indians with a few non-Indians who are just enthusiastic about Indian classical music, I being among them. The dressing code was Indian with the ladies and girls wearing their famous Sari in different and attractive colors. Traditional Indian makeup alongside glistering jewelry completed their dressing. The men and boys were in their typical Sherwani and Dhoti. The Geetanjali was particularly important to them because apart from bringing the Indian community together to have fun, it also entertained them as much as it did remind them of their history and culture. This concert was graced by Ravi who was also the key performer. He is what one would call a 'living legend' among them. The audience warmly welcomed him with an anticipation that only legendary singers receive. The stage was a mixture of adults who played the keyboard, guitars, drums and drum sets; and youthful boys and girls who occupied the better part of the stage with violins, violas, cellos, double bass, and flutes.

The lightning of the stage was fairly soft. It was moderately lit from the expanse. Just nearer to the entrance into backstage overhung Indian portraits of dancing women. Each was illuminated by different colors of lights but still compatible with the mood of the house. What made this concert interesting to me was the graceful performance by each artist. The entire orchestra was in perfect coordination even without a leader motioning the directions. That kind of teamwork and impressed me. The first performance was by a male soloist who dressed in a white Sherwani. His performance was introduced by a violinist who created the mood for the audience and set the pace for the singer since the tone created by the violin was the same his song followed. As he sang, a flute play accompanied his song with the keyboardist following from afar. This performance was received well by the audience who applauded him.

Meera, a lady dressed in a royal blue Sari, ascended the stage for the second performance, and this was my favorite part even as the whole concert was steadily gaining momentum. She sang "Puriyavillai," a song adapted from the Indian Movie Singam 2. Her performance was quite a perfect fusion of solo and instrumental chorus. She sang with a slight accompaniment of one or two instruments, as the chorus was played by a rhythmic combination of a drum set, keyboard, and traditional drum.

The subsequent performances were quite a repetition of what Meera did. However, each performance was unique and lively. Some performances were actually collaborations. While the instruments remained the same throughout the concert, each performance had its own unique musicality. At times, a singer could be introduced by a violinist, sometimes they could just start singing right away without an instrument accompanying as if summoning the keys. Each song was adapted from a movie and reflected different themes. At some point it was love and at some point it was sorry. The audience was quite attentive to the thematic changes and acted responsively. This concert let me to appreciating Indian songs because while one may not understand their language, the musicality and the instrumentals are alone enough to entertain, inform, and educate. It didn't seem to like some foreign culture and now I can't wait to attend this year's actual Asha for Education Concert.