Three artistes will be diving into the depths of percussive music, as drummer and percussionists Pierre Favre and Lucas Niggli collaborate with tabla maestro Aneesh Pradhan, to present a concert that lucidly spells out their individual talents, as well as combines ones. It’s also an effort to foster a life-long friendship between the three.
Go with no expectations about the event, suggests Favre. “That’s the best way to discover something new and eventually inspire yourself,” he adds.
The music they’re presenting is a result of their preparations combining different dimensions. “These are strictly composed, virtuosic unison play, free atmospheric passages, extreme tempo games and polyrhythmic, complex multi-voices with very vital interactions. With great concentration and unrestrained playfulness we will play those it all,” says Niggli.
Being hosted by Pro Helvetia-Swiss Arts Council, the event is a follow up of an initiative that brought leading percussionists from Switzerland and India to hold an intensive workshop in March last year. “It was at this workshop that I met Favre and Niggli for the first time and it’s been a pleasure knowing them since,” says Pradhan, a disciple of tabla maestro Pandit Nikhil Ghosh.
Sharing and experiencing another person’s music is a soul-enriching experience for him. It doesn’t matter what the scale of the event, or its nature. “We started the process of creation more than a year ago, and like good wine, it got better and better. Hope the future holds many more surprises,” he says.
The workshop went great and what emerged from it was a sense of how united the fraternity is, no matter what genre one supports. “To meet all these young Indian people and musicians who showed so much interest and respect for what I’m trying to do was humbling. We’re all essentially the same,”
says Favre.
The three artistes are forever looking for chances to play. It doesn’t matter where and in what form an opportunity comes. The idea of creating something from nothing keeps them upbeat. Specially for Niggli, audiences are his living elixir. “I couldn’t live without the experience of making a moment unforgettable and each concert a celebration,” he says, adding, “Music is éphémére but it touches you and can always remain with you.” It’s like a forever thing.
December 19, at OddBird Theatre, Dhan Mill Compound, 100 Foot Road, SSN Marg, Chhattarpur, at 8 pm