Boosting cross-cultural exchange through music

In a bid to prop up cross-cultural understanding and exchange, strengthen melodic dialogue and collaboration and to establish a sustainable regional network of artistes, cultural activists and resource persons, the two-day (November 6-7) Bangladesh Music Week 2015 was held in Dhaka.

The event, held at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) featured a conference, workshop and a concert by popular local and regional bands and soloists. The Music and Dance Centre auditorium of BSA beamed with glitzy lights on an artistic stage on November 6 evening. The concert was set off with the offering of the National Anthem. Members of Triratna next took the stage and captivated the audience with their popular scores. Soulful folk music performance by the troupe Arshinagar Bangladesh was followed. Illustrious musical bands -- Shironamhin, Chirkutt, Lalon, Minar, Powersurge and The Brotherhood Project rocked the music lovers with their popular numbers. Artistes of BITA (Bangladesh Institute of Theatre Arts) and the Sri Lankan trio Shakhti mesmerised the audience, styling folk fusions with rare musical instruments.

Urban rock band Shironamhin was awesome with their performances of “Pakhi”, “Bondho Janala” and “Abar Hashimukh”, while Minar was mesmeric in his presentation of “Ahare” and “Shada”. The highlight of the evening was a scintillating performance by Chirkutt. They started off with the classics “Dhono Dhanye Pushpe Bhora” and performed their original number “Bondhu Go”. Pinto Ghosh was in a musical high while performing a folk song “Ei Bhob-e Taar”. Prior to performing their show-stopping number “Kanamachhi”, vocalist Sumi called Ambi Subramaniam and Bindu Subramaniam, son and daughter of violin maestro Dr. L Subramaniam and renowned Indian playback singer Kavita Krishnamurthy, on stage. Ambi first fashioned an enthralling jugalbandi with Emon Chowdhury and joined in the overwhelming performance of the popular number.

A light Engineering Master Class also took place at BSA on the same day. It was conducted by the specialist light engineer Naveen Deshpande, Director and Founder of Mixtape and Ground Kontrolle, India.

The Opening Ceremony of Bangladesh Music Week was held on the morning of November 6 with Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor as chief guest and Norwegian Ambassador Merete Lundemo as special guest. Eminent music professionals from South Asia, Europe, US and Australia were in Dhaka to attend the conference and experience the cultural exchange.

Organised under the aegis of Norway-Bangladesh Music Cooperation, it is supported by The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Dhaka, in partnership with LiveSquare and Concert Norway. Bangladesh's Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy supported the initiative while The Daily Star was the strategic partner and Jamuna TV and Radio Foorti were as telecast and broadcast partners.