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As part of their on-going efforts to promote and develop new talents in the performing arts, the Temple of Fine Arts (TFA) is presenting Hrdaya, a concert that features original compositions by musician and budding composer Kalpana Paranjothy. Presented by a 30-strong orchestra, Hrdaya also includes elements of poetry and dance for a truly unique and immersive experience.

Kalpana, who is also Hrdaya’s musical director, had her first taste of performing arts as a dance student at TFA, acquiring skills in both Bharatanatyam and Odissi. She later found her passion in the sitar, and after studying under Dr S Subramony in Malaysia, she continued her education with famed sitar maestro Ustad Usman Khan in Pune, India. Her devoted study of the sitar resulted in a first solo performance upon her return in 2009, after which she began exploring her potential as a composer.

Hrdaya is the amalgamation of that search, with a total of five original compositions that are inspired by memories, fantasies and favourite ideas. “I have had these compositions for a while now, and it suddenly struck me that it would actually work really well in the format of a concert — I stopped seeing them as individual, totally separate pieces, and more as a meandering narrative,” says Kalpana, who turns 31 just days before the show.

“They are inspired by anything and everything — from the innocence of a child, a lover thinking of her beloved and that soothing sense of comfort that comes from solitude,” she describes. “Each composition has its own meaning to me, so this is a very intimate show.” The show will also include two non-original pieces — a hymn in tribute to Lord Ganesha and a piece composed by Khan that Kalpana has re-arranged in tribute to her teacher.

The flavour of the music performed in Hrdaya is predominantly Indian classical, in reference to Kalpana’s training, but is also fused with other elements. “Some pieces are very classical, some less so,” she says. “I’ve tried to explore more than one style, more than one genre, so it’s accessible, easy on the ears and provides the listener with a more enriching experience. It’s a reflection of who I am — I may be trained in Indian classical music, but I am a young person who listens to and enjoys other genres as well.”

The orchestra Kalpana has assembled, consisting of musicians from TFA as well as a few guest performers, reflect this ideal. Aside from classical Indian instruments like the sitar, violin, veena, kanjira and the tabla, expect to hear music from a piano, saxophone, djembe and cello. There are very few vocalists, providing more of a supporting role to the music.

As a nod to her exposure to other pillars of the arts like theatre, dance and literature, Kalpana has created an interesting framework for Hrdaya — the music sits within a carefully crafted backdrop of poetry and performance art.

“In order to create a better sense of cohesion for the entire production, I selected pieces of poetry that I truly loved to precede each piece. The idea was to provide context, yet keep it a little vague so the audience can still interpret each piece of music independently,” Kalpana describes. “But different people read out this narration — the youngest is six, the oldest is in her 70s. I wanted these voices to be real, and to really resonate with the audience. And to make the experience more visually appealing, some of the pieces are accompanied by dance and shadow play. Hrdaya is about the music, but it’s about so much more than that, too.”

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Catch Hrdaya at 7.30pm on Sept 12 and 6.30pm on Sept 13 at the Shantanand Auditorium, level 2, Temple of Fine Arts, 116 Jalan Berhala, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. Admission is by donation, call (03) 2274 3709 or email [email protected] for details. For a sneak preview of the concert, search for Hrdaya [2015] on YouTube.com.

 

This article first appeared in digitaledge Daily, on September 7, 2015.

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