Veena strings to mark World Melody Day Oct 2

Bangalore: India`s ancient string instrument veena will be played by music maestros across the world Oct 2 to mark ‘World Melody Day’, it was announced Sunday.

"Violin maestro L. Subramaniam will unveil the worldwide show at National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) in Bangalore, while other maestros will play veena in Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Mysore, New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram to usher in peace and harmony," Veena Foundation secretary-general V. Raghurama Ayyar said in a statement here. Coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti, the special event will be made a fitting tribute to the father of the nation as it aims at fostering harmony among the people across religions, castes and man-made barriers. "Worldwide, the musical prayer will start from Melbourne and Sydney in Australia and conclude at New Jersey and San Francisco in the US after being played in Japan, Malaysia, Singapore in Asia, Oslo, Denmark and London in Europe," Ayyar said. Noted musician Viswa Mohan Bhatt will string the instrument in San Francisco, while Ramnath and Gopinath Iyer will perform in Melbourne and Malathi Natarajan in Sydney. T.N. Krishnan will be honoured at the New Delhi show with a special award to mark the occasion. A 10-day `Veena Mahotsava` will also be conducted by Bharat Veenalaya musicians at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in Chennai from Oct 2-11. "It will be befitting to dedicate the `Harmony of Strings` event to Gandhiji, the apostle of peace, harmony and goodwill. As the rhythm of life, the melody of music gives peace. Being universal, music also binds people across the world," Veenalaya said in a release for the occasion. IANS