Seven nations to present flute for the soul

NEW DELHI: It began as a Janmashtami offering to Krishna. "I thought a festival centred on his favourite musical instrument, the flute, would be the perfect way to celebrate the day," says the Vrindavan-based Arun Budhiraja, founder of the Krishna Prerna Charitable Trust. The trust is organizing the Times Raasrang World Flute Festival in association with ICCR on September 10-13.
Presented by The Times Of India, the sixth edition of the festival brings together musicians from seven countries including Japan, Hungary, Spain, Switzerland, Belarus, Lithuania and, of course, India. "It's amazing how this little wind instrument has found its way across the world," says Budhiraja. He believes that the instrument hasn't been given the recognition it deserves, even in India where it is associated with religion, mythology and culture. The festival
will be held at Select Citywalk, Saket and Lotus Temple, Kalkaji, has grown since its inception
. "It started as a two-day affair with only evening concerts, now it's a four-day festival with morning, afternoon and evening performances," says Budhiraja.
There will be shorter versions of the festival in Dehradun, Lucknow and Jaipur as well.
Lithuanian saxophonist Kestutis Vaiginis, who will be playing at the festival, is on his first India visit. He started playing the saxophone at 13 but also studied the flute briefly. "I like its unique, yet simple sound," says the 37-year-old jazz artiste, who will be performing on the saxophone with Sudhir Sharma on the tabla and Fateh Ali on the sitar. "I am not unfamiliar with Indian instruments," says Vaiginis, "and shall enjoy collaborating jazz with folk and ethnic music."
Conrad Steinmann from Switzerland was introduced to the flute at age eight because it is "an intrinsic part of Swiss and European culture". He says that as a teenager, he enjoyed reading about Krishna and his flute. "Playing the flute in Krishna's country will be a different experience altogether," says Steinmann.
Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, Seshampatti T Sivalingam, 71, has been enthralling audiences with his nadhaswaram for decades. "It is a great platform to take this wind instrument to both connoisseurs as well as new listeners," he says. The festival will also offer a stage to musicians who play rare Indian wind instruments like peepah, sutli, sunndari and pungi. This will give them a platform "where they can collaborate with foreign musicians", says Budhiraja. There will be a two-hour flute therapy workshop, Bansi Yoga, on September 12 and 13 between 7am and 9am. A combination of yoga, meditation and flute music, Budhiraja claims that it can help a practitioner bring down the pulse rate in 40 minutes.
"Everyone needs to slow down and de-stress, and the flute is the best way to bring about a calming effect on the body," he says.
Readers can collect complimentary invites for the World Flute Festival from select Fabindia outlets.