On Friday 5th July, Samyo Too headed off to Birmingham for the National Music for Youth Festival.  Here’s a round-up of what happened from Samyo member Raam Jeganathan.

We met up at 8.15 at Euston (quite early!) and soon arrived at Birmingham after a fast 2 hour journey. In the morning we took part in a workshop with the NYJC and their tutors. After performing a folk piece with Prathap Ji, Rishii and Jasdeep, we began the session. We learnt a folk piece and did some improvisation with the scale. We then performed altogether at the Adrian Boult Hall in front of an enthusiastic crowd. The sound was amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed the performance.

In the afternoon we took part in a percussion workshop with Prakash Ji. The workshop was entertaining despite the fire alarm going off! After a performance at the end and some improvisation by Praveen, we left and headed back for London on what seemed a long trip! I really enjoyed the day and my only problem throughout was my own instrument, the veena! On the train it was slightly annoying.

All of us are now looking forward to Music India in a few weeks!

Have you heard:

At the end of this month, we reach the holy festival of Guru Poornima. Often with Carnatic Music, it is easily forgotten that all the songs are written in praise of the Lord. Realising this is incredibly vital as it helps bring out the beauty of a piece. This time I would like to share a concert at Prashanti Nilayam by the Malladi Brothers. This is the home of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, a deity amongst us whom many musicians in the Milapfest organisation follow. The vibes in this concert definitely reached me through my own computer. I hope you enjoy this video.

See you next time with an entry about Music India and more ‘Have you heard’!