CHENNAI: As part of the 50th year celebrations, Hotel Savera has been conducting several activities and also supporting good and noble causes. Joining hands with the National Association for the Blind (NAB), the hotel hosted Prem Joshua & Band, featuring Mahesh Vinayakram.
German by birth, Prem Joshua was deeply influenced by the music of Pandit Ravi Shankar. His passion and love for Indian music developed at a very young age and it brought him to India. He was just 18 when he came to India and that he says is when his love affair with the country began.
Speaking on the occasion, a very excited Nina Reddy, executive director of Savera Hotel and president of NAB, said, “This is NAB’s third such fundraiser and we’ve got an amazing response. We were able to collect almost `14 lakh so far. I’m really thrilled.”
Joshua and his band members — Raul Sengupta (percussion and vocals), Satgyan Fukuda (bass), Dondieu Divin (keyboard) and also playback singer Mahesh, enthralled the audience with their performance. “We are happy to be back again and support such a cause. This also happens to be our first performance of the season,” Joshua said.
The proceeds from the show will go to NAB for their three-tier programmes such as inclusive schooling till Class XII, residential vocational training for adults, etc. A multi-instrumentalist, Joshua plays the sitar, bamboo flute, soprano saxophone (his core instruments) and is also trained to play the nadaswaram and the Afghan rabab. He has released 17 albums, each comprising a rendition of jazz, raga and also world music.