Bollywood composer and singer Shankar Mahadevan, a part of the popular Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio, will perform a semiclassical concert on September 9 at Dubai’s Shaikh Rashid Auditorium — a far cry from the band’s Bollywood-led performance in Abu Dhabi last weekend.
He will be accompanied by his sons Siddharth, of Zinda fame, and Shivam, of Bande Hain Hum Uske popularity, for a mix of Carnatic music, bhajans (Hindu religious songs), qawwalis (Sufi songs), thumris (romantic songs expressing their love for the Hindu deity Krishna) as well as jazz and rock elements, performed in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam.
They’ll be accompanied by musicians on the flute, tabla, guitar, and keyboard.
The concert, led by the trained classical singer Mahadevan, will begin at 7.30pm.
“We will feature a unique presentation of some specially created compositions on the theme of Krishna — The Source of Eternal Inspiration. I am hoping the deeply devotional songs will work magic to create the feeling of tremendous joy as well as inner calm and bliss. Songs of Krishna is our endeavour to create peace and harmony amidst this present-day scenario of unrest and turmoil,” said Mahadevan in a statement on Monday.
He rose to fame in 1998 with his album Breathless, following which he ventured into film music direction, partnering with Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa.
“The popularity of classical music is dwindling and we want to take a conscious effort to revive interest. And one way to do that is work with a popular artist who understands the pulse of the audience and through him allow the audience to get a taste of something truly spectacular, in a format that is effortless to enjoy” said Vinod Raghavan, director and CEO of organisers Tambourine Live.
Tickets are Dh100-Dh750 at UAE Exchange outlets and platinumlist.net; call 055-2405558.
