Karnataka - Bangalore   

Africa, Asia discover their rhythm

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

STRIKING A CHORD: The former Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachalaiah (second from right) at the International Music Conference and Festival 2008 in Bangalore on Friday. S.N.S. Murthy (left), Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha president, Swami Harshanandaji of Ramakrishna Math, Bangalore, and S.A.K. Durga, Director, Centre for Ethnomusicology, are seen.

Bangalore: A six-day international conference and festival — Africa meets Asia — was inaugurated in Bangalore on Friday when musicologists, musicians and composers from Asia and Africa began interaction on music of the two continents.

The former Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachalaiah inaugurated the event organised jointly by the Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha and the Centre for Intercultural Musicology, Cambridge College, U.S..

The conference is aimed at promoting exchange of views among musicologists, musicians and composers from the Asian and African Diaspora on their musical treasure. It would encompass compositions, traditions, music concepts and rapid changes witnessed in the last five decades.

S.A.K. Durga, director, Centre for Ethnomusicology, delivered the keynote address on the topic “confluence of melody and rhythm in the musics of Africa and Asia.”

Swami Harshanandaji of Ramakrishna Math, S.N.S. Murthy, president of Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha, and K. Vekatasubramaian, its secretary, were present.

During the three separate sessions on music held later in the day, Edward Kenneth Lebaka of University of Pretoria, South Africa, presented a paper on “Myth in Africa: People in Limpopo Province” and Li Xin of Musicology Department, Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China, spoke about “Evolution of the creative style of Akin Euba’s African Pianism”.

In the evening, the audience were enthralled with the Carnatic vocal recital by M.S. Sheela and group.

A Tanzanian group led by band leader Teddy Mbarak gave a “Wahapahapa” performance.

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