From the ravanhattha to cello, from the koto to veena, from the violin to sarod—all strings of the world came together to form a harmonious whole at the recently-concluded Strings of the World Festival. Krintan, with the Friends of Music, made a comeback to Delhi’s music scene to establish a regular platform for unconventional sounds and new bands. The musicians were drawn from many genres, cultures and continents. Presented by Sharat Chandra Srivastava — performer and Festival Director, in collaboration with Mohit and Kanika Satyanand from Friends of Music, the festival became a platform for artistes to get together and create new sounds. “We worked on this special concept because string instruments resonate very deeply with our emotions. Their sounds reverberate within us like magic, helping us understand life,” says Sharat Chandra who has dedicated the festival to his grandfather and guru Pandit Joi Srivastava. “Music is a universal language that tugs our heartstrings. And the experience of music is much more enhanced when the music itself is birthed from strings,” says Kanika.
A trained musician of the Senia gharana and a scion of one its most prominent houses, Sharat Chandra has had a rigorous grounding in Hindustani classical music over the past 35 years and excels in both fusion as well as Hindustani music. He has his own fusion band, Mrigya; loves collaborative works and has been at the forefront of Indian music scene for years. “Whether it’s performing in my city or touring several other countries, I like sharing with the world an art form that has brought people and nations together,” he says.
Opening the concert was a talented 19-year-old pianist and jazz student, Utsav Lal, who played a host of Hindustani classical ragas on the piano. It was followed by a collaboration with a group of Scottish musicians. Dutchman Tim Kliphuis followed with gypsy jazz and folk music on the violin, and Gjermund Larsen belted out Norwegian folk music on the Hardanger fiddle. Liu Guangyu from China stole the show with two strings and one bow on the Erhu, while Delhi-based Sushmit Sen and Chronicles presented parts of their new album, Depths of the Ocean.
The festival brought to the fore many rare and dying string instruments, and the organisers aimed at reviving knowledge about them. “There are several Indian instruments like the ravanhattha and ektara which have lost their popularity. It has been the same with the Western world and cultures like China that have seen this erosion of musical heritage,” says Sharat Chandra. Adds Mohit: “There are several reasons for this... possibly, emergence of newer genres of music which don’t factor in traditional instruments, over-standardisation of instruments and the lack of support for traditional musicians. However, the good news is that with this festival we have succeeded in breaking stereotypes and creating history, and that makes us all very happy.”