The lineup

Taufiq Qureshi’s band Surya, will be pulling their weight at the fest, the festival promises a deluge of rhythms in the form of rap, dance and a variety of instruments in the mix.

New rhythm

For instance, mridangam artiste Charu Hariharan will be on stage with a 25member ensemble, bringing together the Jenu Kuruba community from the border towns and villages of Kerala and Karnataka and the folk music group Kozhikode Nanthalakootam.

Charu will be performing her own compositions as part of the quartet. “Most artistes performing as part of this festival are new to the idea of arrangement despite knowing their compositions entirely. The Jenu Kuruba artistes also use interesting elements like plastic drums and antenna dishes in their performance, adding a beautiful texture to the music,” she says. Jay Shah, vice president (cultural outreach), Mahindra Group, says that percussion has always been language agnostic and can be attributed to the sound of civilization. “Because of its universality, the festival boasts an interesting local and international lineup,” he says.

VG Jairam, founder, Hyperlink and the festival director, says that a sense of raw energy from contemporary musicians can be expected at the festival.

The Mahindra Percussion Festival, in association with The Hindu, is co-sponsored by Mahindra Finance, Paul John Visitor Centre and Carlsberg Smooth Soda and promoted and produced by Hyperlink Brand Solutions. Tickets are on bookmyshow.com

On March 23, Charu Hariharan quartet, Two Summ featuring Viveick Rajagopal and Anantha R Krishnan, Vikku Vinayakram’s ghatam symphony featuring Grammy award-winner V Selvaganesh, V Umashankar and Swaminathan Selvaganesh among others, will be performing. The final act of the day will be Swarathma Percussive Experience, featuring Thavil Raja and Beat Gurus.

The second day’s lineup will begin with a performance titled Rhythms of India, an ensemble bringing together artistes who blend the Indian classical sounds and the contemporary sounds by Darshan Doshi, Varijashree Venugopal, BC Manjunath, and Praveen Rao. The next performance will show eight archetypal heroines from ancient Indian literature in a performance titled Ashtanayika through classical Indian music, modern jazz, Bharatanatyam and rap narratives. Taufiq Qureshi’s band Surya, will be the closing act of the festival.