One World- One Voice - Spiritual Symphony
As part of the 65th Republic Day celebrations of India, the Indian Cultural Centre is organising a musical evening titled 'One World-One Voice - Spiritual Symphony' by renowned Indian singer Sonam Kalra, at 6 pm on January 25 at Bishops College, Auditorium, Colombo.
The musical performance will be presided over by High Commissioner of India, Y.K. Sinha while Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem will be the Chief Guest at the function.
The programme is being organised in Sri Lanka with the support of the India-Sri Lanka Foundation, the Ministry of Culture and Art, Government of Sri Lanka, and Hotel Taj Samudra, Colombo.
Known for her powerful yet sensitive voice and her ability to blend styles, Sonam Kalra has been trained in both Indian and Western systems of music and makes effective use of both these traditions to create her music. She has learnt Indian music from Shubha Mudgal and Sarathi Chatterjee; Classical Opera from Hur Chul Young; Gospel and Jazz from Ashley Clement in Singapore.
Sonam Kalra is renowned for The Sufi Gospel Project which, in her words "is an effort to blend all the voices of faith, through the use of song, music and the spoken word. Traditional western gospel melds with Indian classical sounds, and Indian spiritual texts are enriched by elements of western poetry to create a sound that touches every soul. Revealing that no matter what the language of the lyrics, or the ethnicity of the sounds, there is but one language, the language of faith. And that is the universal truth"
At the heart of this Project is the belief that though we worship different Gods in different languages, the themes and philosophy of various religions around the world are the same.
A testament to this is Sonam Kalra's truly secular team - a keyboard player and guitarist, who are Christians; accompanists on the Sarangi and Tabla who are Muslims and the flutist and percussionist are Hindus.
Owing to her versatility, Sonam Kalra is a familiar voice at prestigious events and music festivals all over India and the world. She has performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony. In 2013, she has performed in Canada, Singapore, South Africa, London and Cambodia. In India, her performances included the Delhi, Jaipur and Patna editions of Muzaffar Ali's World Sufi Festival, Jahan e Khusrau. She performed on The Coke Studio on MTV with a beautiful Persian song called 'Man Manam' which has become very popular on the internet and has over a million hits on Youtube.
The members of Sonam's Sufi Gospel Project are Alex Fernandes, one of India's most accomplished Pianists known for his superlative skills and mastery of the Jazz genre; Rajesh Prasanna, son of flute maestro Pt. Rajendra Prasanna, known for his fine improvisation skills; Ahsan Ali Khan, an exceptionally talented musician who plays the Sarangi; Amaan Ali Khan, acclaimed Tabla player; and Tarit Pal, a percussionist who is adept in a wide variety of percussion instruments like Cajon, Congo, Bongo, Dholak Darabouka and Djembe.