It?s folk music time with the third edition of the EarthSync festival to be held in Chennai on May 30. Listeners can experience a range of music from traditional, folk, sacred and classical sounds, traditional instruments in an electronic mix, to light and visual art, traditional and contemporary dance performances, stills and exhibitions.
The highlight of the festival this year is Shoshan, the performance by Shye Ben-Tzur, an acclaimed Israeli composer, producer and performer based in North India over a decade, along with his group of Rajasthani vocalists and percussionists. For added colour and vibrancy, the show will also feature a flamenco and oriental guitarist from Spain. Ben-Tzur?s Shoshan album will be released on EarthSync later this year.
?I am very excited about performing at the Festival,? said Ben-Tzur, a Hebrew Qawwali singer, widely known as the ?Hebrew Sufi?. ?It is an opportunity to showcase some pieces from my album.? After attending a concert in Israel by acclaimed classical musicians Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Zakir Hussain, Ben-Tzur became interested in Indian music, which brought him into contact with qawwali. He came to Ajmer, where he trained and collaborated with the qawwali musicians of Ajmer. Besides working with the Qawwal communities across India, in the past few years Ben-Tzur has also been collaborating with different folk musicians from the Rajasthan desert.
At the festival, audiences can look to a special and exclusive outdoor performance, courtesy a collaboration between Patrick Seban, a music producer, and Yotam Agam (Kartick & Gotam), a sound designer, who have remixed EarthSync?s folk productions and musicians to create an alternative, electronic album. This show will integrate dance and music artists from around Asia and the Middle East with contemporary electronic sound.
Sonya Mazumdar, CEO and Director, EarthSync, said, ?EarthSync has come a long way over the past few years, largely due to the incredible support that we have received from our audiences, be it in India or abroad. This has given us the impetus to bring into India some eclectic performances and albums, be it Laya Project and Laya Project Live!, the Ojos de Brujo albums, Nagore Sessions or our latest offering Voice Over The Bridge. The performances at this year?s festival, Shoshan and Kartick & Gotam, once again reinstate our commitment to nurturing world music and we?re sure that the festival will be extremely well-received by our audiences here.?