Open-air concerts have a different charm, especially in Kolkata’s cooler months. On the evening of November 13, The Beat School of Music, a city music school run by Kaizad A. Rabadi, held its annual concert after a hiatus of two years with over 45 children participating.
“We are really excited about this year’s concert! The last students’ concert we held was in 2019 — before the lockdown — so it’s the first one in a while. For a lot of our students it is their first time performing, so they are really pumped up,” said Rabadi, who is the drummer of two city bands — The Jukebox and Banned From Tolly — in his opening statement.
The evening began with an introductory sequence by all 45 participants, bringing together the drummers, keyboardists, guitarists and vocalists to sing Queen’s iconic song We Will Rock You. Thumping rock beats made their way to a sing-along session by the youngest budding musicians, who sang songs like It’s A Beautiful Day, I’m Going To The Circus, Que Sara, Sera and Sunshine Smile. A few specials sneaked into the session — Baby Shark, which was a tribute to all parents and grandparents in the crowd, and We Wish You A Merry Christmas — to bring on the Yuletide spirit.
In a sing-along session, the youngest musicians sang songs like ‘It’s A Beautiful Day’, ‘I’m Going To The Circus’, ‘Que Sara, Sera’ and ‘Sunshine Smile’
Meher Arora took the stage next, playing six songs on the keyboard, which included John Denver’s Country Roads and André Rieu’s Oh When The Saints. Following her were pianists Kareena Rabadi, Reisha Maxfield, Noah Phillipose, Avika Gangwal, Priasha Bagchi and Mehr Kapur — who played renditions of Let It Be by The Beatles, Andy Williams’ Where Do I Begin and other popular piano numbers.
The next half hour was devoted to the vocalists of the music school. A performance that stood out was Aahan Ray Kapur and Mannat Kaur’s medley of Michael Bublé’s Sway. The duo kept the crowd engaged from the very first “when marimba rhythms start to play…” till the last “...stay with me, sway with me” with their clean, crisp vocals.
(L-R) Aahan Ray Kapur and Mannat Kaur sang ‘Sway’ by Michael Bublé and Sanjali Dugar played Queen’s ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ on drums
Following the duo were guitar and drum performances. Advay Nathany played an interesting mash-up of Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes’ Señorita and Beethoven’s Ode To Joy on guitar, while Sanjali Dugar and Ankit Bangur stole the show on drums with Queen’s Another One Bites The Dust and Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal, respectively. “I love this band and this song and so does my mum. It’s a tribute to her. She couldn’t be here to see me play, but I’m going to send her a recording,” said Sanjali, a 16-year-old Martinian, who was Rabadi’s first student.
The audience was thoroughly regaled by the young musicians
Next up were the band performances, led by 13-year -old Aarav Goenka on strings. “I have been playing the guitar for four years now and Pipeline by The Ventures is one of my favourite songs. It is a really soothing song and I’m very comfortable playing it, so it was an easy choice,” said the Xaverian. Meher Chhawchharia on guitar and vocals, Noah Phillipose on keys and Aariish Agarwala on drums brought the event to a close with Coldplay’s hit single Yellow.
The Beat School of Music was set up in 2016 and specialises in western music. Visit their website for more information.
