Seven artistes and seven raagas - this edition of Monsoon Nirvana promises a soulful musical experience

Along with the rains, bringing respite to the city’s heat is the seventh edition of Monsoon Nirvana — a musical experience. Organised by city-based Cisne For Arts and Perfect Harmony Productions, this annual affair attempts to present an evening dedicated to Indian forms of music. This time around, the theme is based on the seven chakras in a human body and the raagas that awaken them. “The concept of Monsoon Nirvana is to bring together artistes who have never performed with each other before. This helps us curate a fresh set of sounds and ideas each year. With this season, we wanted to celebrate the power of seven,” says Harini Ganti, founder of Cisne for Arts and curator of Monsoon Nirvana. The concert will feature seven women who will perform solo, followed by jugalbandi (a presentation in Indian classical music that features a duet of two solo musicians) and a final group performance.

Savani Talwalkar
Savani Talwalkar maintains that it was her father, Padma Shree awardee Suresh Talwalkar, who introduced her to the tabla. This Mumbai-based percussionist’s taalim, who started as a young child, is known for her performances in music festivals across the world. She has distinguished herself as a soloist and has also accompanied veterans of Hindustani music.

Chandana Bala Kalyan
You might know 36-year-old Chandana Bala Kalyan for her performance with Amit Trivedi in the third season of Coke Studio. This Bengaluru-based trained Carnatic singer has also branched out to experiment with parallel genres including Sufi, folk and bhajan. Chandana has composed literature into her songs in an album titled Madhura Bhakti and Tatva. Her compositions have classical, qawali, ghazal, bhajan and folk influences, while the instrumentation is more contemporary.

Debopriya Chatterjee
Born into a family of musicians in Allahabad, Debopriya initially pursued kathak, before her father encouraged her sister, Suchismita, and herself to learn flute. As a disciple of renowned flautist Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Debopriya has carved a niche for herself in the musical circuit. She also received a Sangeet Natak Academy award in the Hindustani instrumental category as a flute artist from the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar (Prize to Young Artists) in 2008. She is a graded artist of Aakashwani. She was honoured as Sur Mani at the Kal Ke Kalakar Conference in 2001.

Padma Shankar
Chennai-based Padma Shankar is an internationally acclaimed violinist and an educator. Recognised for her soulful tunes, she has pursued advanced training and professional performance skills under the tutelage of the violin maestro Padmabhushan Lalgudi G Jayaraman. About six years ago, she also performed in the first Carnatic classical symphony, composed and conducted by Lalgudi Jayaraman and Lalgudi G J R Krishnan, which premiered in Singapore. In 2011, this 30-something-year-old also accompanied Anoushka Shankar at the premiere of her album Traveller in Spain.

The line-up also includes Radha Padmaja on morsing, U Nagamani on mandolin and mridingam player M Nagalakshmi.

At Shilpakala Vedika. On August 4, 7 pm onwards.