On a rainy Tuesday evening, a stone’s throw away from the weekday chaos on the busy AJC Bose Road, was an oasis of music and peace. Melodious music flowed against the backdrop of a lit-up St James’ Church for the first ‘Tribute to Kolkata’ concert. The Calcutta Illumination Project — an initiative by The Kolkata Restorers and Mudar Patherya, which aims to illuminate Kolkata’s iconic heritage structures — took on a new mission on July 30 through ‘Tribute to Kolkata’. The performing arts series will pay tribute to the city and its heritage structures by using the lit-up facades as backdrops for unique performances.
The first edition of ‘Tribute To Kolkata’ was held at St James’ Church with violinists Trina Basu and Arun Ramamurthy putting on an instrumental music concert that blended south Indian classical music, Western chamber music, and jazz.
Meet the artistes
Musicians Trina Basu and Arun Ramamurthy, who reside in New York, created a unique sound described as ‘free-flowing and globe-spanning’. Their debut album, Nakshatra, explores this blend with a mix of energy, playfulness and cosmic depth. They have been artists-in-residence at Avaloch Farm Music Institute in New Hampshire, and Next Stage Arts Project in Vermont, and performed at notable venues like Ragas Live Festival in Brooklyn and The Jazz Gallery in New York City. The duo have also collaborated with global artistes including cellists Marika Hughes and Jake Charkey.
A tribute to the city
St James’ Church is one of the few heritage buildings in Kolkata that have been given a new lease of life through the Calcutta Illumination Project
The musician duo were on a leisure trip and performance tour in India when the concept of ‘Tribute To Kolkata’ fell into place. The idea behind the series is to have performers present a 15-minute set at various heritage sites around the city, which will be audial and visually recorded. The videos of the performances will then be uploaded on social media platforms, so people can admire both the music and the venues — all of which have been given a new light by The Calcutta Illumination Project.
“It’s a really cool concept to bring the arts and culture into public spaces at historical places that are not being used. It showcases the architecture and the artistes so it’s quite nice,” said Trina.
“Being a Carnatic violinist and someone who has a deep love for Hindustani music I have always heard about Kolkata. So, to play here for the first time was nice but to be a part of the city in a deep way with such landmarks means a lot,” said Arun.
Between performances at The Tejas Art Gallery (belonging to Tapan Desai’s family) the day before and a gig at Tollygunge Club the day after, the duo made time to record this set at St James’s. After Kolkata, their next stop was Bengaluru, where they performed at the International Centre and Select Bookshop, which is a second-hand bookshop Arun’s grandfather started in 1947.
The music and its future
When the two were approached about the concept, coming on board was their first reaction. The idea took Arun back to Mysore Palace, where his gurus would and continue to have concerts. “The palace is all lit up and we do concerts out in front,” he said.
Arun and Trina both felt connected to the city due to their love for Hindustani music and Trina’s family roots
After the quick decision to play, the question was what to play? Trina and Arun have a repertoire of music they have been writing together for close to 10 years but they wanted to choose something new. The piece they performed was written by them last summer, and was inspired by nature, “and the Fibonacci sequence, which is a series of numbers, using which we created the composition. It is also based on the raga Hemavati, so it grows from alap, into a composition, into a rhythmic structure,” explained Trina.
When My Kolkata asked the debut musicians of the series if such a concept had a far future, Arun responded with a positive “Absolutely!” adding that “the amount of people you can reach with these concerts is massive.” He mentioned that most venues that host classical music are not places everyone has access to. Doing it in a public space makes it accessible to a larger audience.
Trina and Arun performing at St James’ Church
For Arun and Trina, their family trip was made even more special as Trina connected with her roots. “I would come to visit my grandparents [in Kolkata’s Tollygunge] quite often and bring my oldest son who was then two years old. They have been hearing about India and learning Carnatic music so they now have a connection,” she signed off.