Terra Guitar Quartet, a multi-cultural quartet, is all set to perform this weekend

Terra Guitar Quartet, a group of talented classical guitarist from four different cultures, attributes their diverse backgrounds to the uniqueness of their brand of music. The band, which comprises of Jihyung Park from Korea, Madhavan Somanathan from New Delhi, India, Xavier Jara from USA and Pedro Rocha from Brazil, are currently in India for their first tour and are excited to perform in the city this weekend.
It was at a music school in Paris, France, that the four boys befriended each other and decided to form a quartet. When asked how their diverse background has helped their music, Madhavan says, “Since we are from different cultures, we can learn from each other’s music and use it in our performances. Ours is a multi-cultural band. This not only results in good music, but we also get to learn more about each other’s cultural background, and so do the audience.”
Madhavan says that their USP is their music, which is different from others and has an audience base in a city like Bengaluru. Praising the music scene here, he says, “People here are eager and enthusiastic when it comes to music. They are very open-minded and eager to learn about it,” he says. Who would their dream collaboration be? “As of now, since we’re on our first tour, we would like to understand and collaborate with each other. However, in the future, we would love to do sound track for theatre performances and films here,” says Madhavan.
MR Jagdeesha, Director-Operations, Bangalore School of Music, says that bands such as Terra Guitar Quartet performing in the city are beneficial, both on educational and cultural grounds. “When such bands perform, our students get to learn a lot from them. That’s the beauty of music; a lot can be learnt subconsciously merely by observing a performance,” he says.
— Sandra.Fernandes@timesgroup.com