From the last edition of the Brillante Piano Festival Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Brillante is a Nagaland-based piano festival that is in its fifth year and is coming to Bengaluru for the first time. In this program, musicians from 15 Indian states and 18 countries will perform music for two days.
Brillante Piano Festival founder and director Khyochano TCK says the festival began in 2017 as a response to what was needed in the community at that time. “We are from the North-Eastern part of India and a rural community, which has extraordinary talent in music. However, there was no infrastructure to guide music lovers, students or their parents to energize, motivate and inspire the youth,” says Khyochano.
“We were attracted to the need to provide a respectable place to art, culture and music within the state,” she says, adding that although it was initially conceived for the local community, the response Later it spread to different parts of India. Retrieved from second and later editions.
Khoychano TCK, Founder and Director of the Brillante Piano Festival | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“Brillante is about awakening possibilities in people’s lives, in their dreams and goals, about awakening possibilities in neighborhoods when they see how creative engagements can transform perspective as well as the way we live and “Can also bring changes in the way of working.”
As altruistic as it sounds, the multi-genre, piano-centric festival focuses on “performance, pedagogy and competition.” This Magic of the Keys themed edition highlights not only the history of this instrument, but also its relevance in the future, as the piano has adapted to change over the years.
Magic of the Keys will feature performances from Bengaluru talents Aman Mahajan, Derek and the Cats, Radha Thomas and others from outside the city like Adam Gregg and Grammy winner Manoj George as well as people from Nagaland.
Moroccan-Hungarian concert pianist Maroun Benabdella is associated with Brillante from 2022. “That was the online version because of the pandemic; This will be the first time I will personally participate in such a big piano event in India,” Maroon says over the phone.
He will perform other music, including Spanish composer Enrique Granados and Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Although it may seem like it draws heavily on classical pieces, Maroun says the Rhapsody is quite tame. “Everyone has heard it because it was used in the Tom and Jerry episode The Cat Concerto.
From the last edition of the Brillante Piano Festival Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
He shares an interesting detail – even though it was for an animated cartoon, The Cat Concerto, It was accurate down to the smallest detail. For example, whenever C-sharp is in the music, Tom is seen playing C-sharp on the piano as well, even though only a pianist would recognize it.
Chennai-based musician Lydian Nadhaswaram, who will also be at Brillante, is thrilled with most major music events “stopping in Mumbai or Delhi”. In addition to some Western classical, jazz and improv pieces, he will play dance of spring by the Chinese composer Lang Lang, of which Lydian says, “It is not very common but quite beautiful.”
The Brillante Music Festival will include workshops and masterclasses. There will also be a flea market offering items and goods from Nagaland. The festival has shifted to Kochi after its run in Bengaluru.
The Brillante Piano Festival will be held on September 28 and 29 at the prestigious Srihari Khoday Center for Performing Arts. Tickets start at ₹499 on BookMyShow. For further details log on to brilliantfest.org
published – September 27, 2024 02:00 PM IST
