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Empress dons new avatar: Listen to classical music under green canopy: The Indian Express
Pune, Apr 06: : The Empress Botanical Garden, till now the venue for high profile weddings, will blossom into a cultural centre.
Pune, April 06: The Empress Botanical Garden, till now the venue for high profile weddings, will blossom into a cultural centre.
When the garden holds its first music concert under the canopy of trees this Sunday, it will join the other botanical gardens the world over that have used this art form to enhance their popularity.
On April 11 at 9 am, a thickly shaded grove in the garden will be the venue for a violin recital by Praveen Sheolikar from Bhopal, followed by a vocal recital by Goa’s Jaiteerth Mewundi. This will be the first of the series of Indian classical music concerts that have been planned at the 150-year-old garden, by its trustees.
The idea to hold such concerts was Empress Botanical Garden’s honorary secretary Suresh Pingale’s. ‘‘While scanning websites of botanical gardens in Europe, I realised that almost all of them held musical concerts and the concept was a big hit with the local populace. Since we have such a beautiful venue, I thought it was high time we used it to promote Indian music too,’’ he says.
Pingale approached Kalanidhi, a cultural organisation run by danseuse Yogini Gandhi to put the idea into practise. ‘‘We were thrilled with the concept. Any artiste will testify that the garden’s bountiful nature lends a different charm to a performance. To have a venue as gorgeous as this garden for a classical music concert is amazing,’’ says Gandhi.
Surprisingly, the morning hours have been chosen for the show despite the summer month.
‘‘That’s because at the garden, even at noon it’s very cool,’’ explains Gandhi, who has plans to introduce concepts like21 seasonal concerts in the future. ‘‘Like horis during Basant Utsav or Sharad Poonam on a full moon night — imagine the effect,’’ she enthuses. The first concert has no charges, though a nominal charge for the future performances might be in order,‘‘because any activity has to ultimately pay for its sustenance. But as of now the idea is to make this a popular venue for outdoor classical music concerts to promote both good music and the garden amongst Puneites,’’ states Gandhi.
When the garden holds its first music concert under the canopy of trees this Sunday, it will join the other botanical gardens the world over that have used this art form to enhance their popularity.
On April 11 at 9 am, a thickly shaded grove in the garden will be the venue for a violin recital by Praveen Sheolikar from Bhopal, followed by a vocal recital by Goa’s Jaiteerth Mewundi. This will be the first of the series of Indian classical music concerts that have been planned at the 150-year-old garden, by its trustees.
The idea to hold such concerts was Empress Botanical Garden’s honorary secretary Suresh Pingale’s. ‘‘While scanning websites of botanical gardens in Europe, I realised that almost all of them held musical concerts and the concept was a big hit with the local populace. Since we have such a beautiful venue, I thought it was high time we used it to promote Indian music too,’’ he says.
Pingale approached Kalanidhi, a cultural organisation run by danseuse Yogini Gandhi to put the idea into practise. ‘‘We were thrilled with the concept. Any artiste will testify that the garden’s bountiful nature lends a different charm to a performance. To have a venue as gorgeous as this garden for a classical music concert is amazing,’’ says Gandhi.
Surprisingly, the morning hours have been chosen for the show despite the summer month.
‘‘That’s because at the garden, even at noon it’s very cool,’’ explains Gandhi, who has plans to introduce concepts like21 seasonal concerts in the future. ‘‘Like horis during Basant Utsav or Sharad Poonam on a full moon night — imagine the effect,’’ she enthuses. The first concert has no charges, though a nominal charge for the future performances might be in order,‘‘because any activity has to ultimately pay for its sustenance. But as of now the idea is to make this a popular venue for outdoor classical music concerts to promote both good music and the garden amongst Puneites,’’ states Gandhi.