Gigs in the Park

The neighbourhood park has always been a place to meet, greet and gather and is more often than not, an excellent and peaceful spot to spend evenings at. Capitalising on the great potential that parks hold as public spaces, the recent initiative Live In Park is bringing great live music to the city’s neighbourhoods. The first concert in the series was organised on May 4 at Maddox Square and saw performances by Deepabali Datta ( Hindusthani classical music), Srijoni ( children’s dance troupe), M. A. D ( theatre) and Cassini’s Division ( rock music). Since then the Live In Park series has seen many more such weekend evenings with music, dance and theatre performances. Live performances are at the core of the programmes that have been ideated, curated and presented by Live In founder Avik Saha and renowned percussionist Bickram Ghosh along with musician Mainak Nag Chowdhury and his spouse, Bharatnatyam dancer, Arupa. “Music has been relegated to subsidiary modes of presentation and people nowadays prefer listening to music on their iPods or on TV. The predominance of live music is dwindling,” says Bickram Ghosh. It was this thought that sparked off the concept of Live In Park, a platform to draw people back to listening to live music in interesting and offbeat venues. The performances are not restricted to any particular area or timings. Being supported by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the organisers are attempting to make this a community event with participation from the entire neighbourhood. The programme has already seen participation from a diverse bunch of musicians and performers including artists such contemporary dance outfits Ranan and Sapphire Creations, theatre group Charbaak, fusion music groups Jambination and 97 West, Hindustani classical musicians Ivy Banerjee and Tushar Datta, folk musicians Kartik Das Baul and many others. “We wanted to provide a medley of entertainment on the same platform without compromising on quality. While there are professionals like Ranan who have performed across the world, there are also amateur performers who make up for their lack of experience with their passion. We are hand picking young performers because they can better reach out to a young audience,” says Arupa. Speaking about the future of the series, Ghosh says, “It’s a win- win situation if it works out. This is not just a project, it’s a movement that aims to enrich the quality of living.” Preparations for the next series, Live In Lakes, where there will be performances around the Rabindra Sarobar, are already underway even as many shows around various parks are scheduled for the coming months. For more details call 9903837056