Yamini 2026 unfolds as a rare dusk-to dawn journey where music, dance and time converge into a continuous experience of listening and awakening
As night descends and the city quietens, Yamini 2026 returns as a space where time slows and classical traditions unfold without interruption. Presented by Spic Macay – IIM Bangalore Chapter, the 22nd edition of this dusk-to-dawn music and dance concert will take place from the evening of January 25 to dawn on January 26 at the Open-Air Theatre on the IIMB campus. Held in association with the Indian Music Experience Museum and Brigade Foundation, the overnight event brings together some of India’s finest performers across genres from carnatic and hindustani vocal music to kathak, rudra veena recitals, nadaswaram pieces and some jazz-blues — inviting audiences to experience the richness of Indian classical arts as a continuous and immersive journey through the night. We get chatty with Supriti S, the curator of Yamini 2026 about the immersive experience of the event…
Yamini has now reached its 22nd edition. How has its curatorial vision evolved over the years and what guiding idea shaped this year’s dusk-to-dawn journey?
At Spic Macay, our primary focus has always been to bring the best of India’s classical music and dance heritage to young people. Our programmes are usually held in schools and college campuses and that’s how Yamini began at IIM Bangalore in 2004. Each year, while curating Yamini, we return to five core genres: classical dance, carnatic vocal, carnatic instrumental, hindustani vocal and hindustani instrumental. Karnataka is uniquely placed, with strong traditions across all these forms. Our intent is to bring the very best representatives of each genre together across one uninterrupted night.
Programming music and dance across an entire night is rare today. What does the overnight format allow audiences to experience that a conventional concert cannot?
Overnight concerts have a long tradition in India. It’s been there for many years. There is the Dover Lane Conference in Kolkata. There is the Sankat Mochan Festival in Varanasi. There are many such festivals of music, which are held across the country and especially for hindustani music. Music was traditionally performed in temples and sacred spaces and staying awake through the night is about giving up bodily comfort to rise above it. Yamini draws from this philosophy.
This year’s programme moves across genres. What kinds of conversation — sonic, emotional or philosophical — emerges when these traditions share the same night?
Each art form exists to help us evolve. When experienced consecutively, they create a journey. We have a very mixed audience that comes for Yamini. And different people are looking for different things. Some get inspired by dance, some get inspired by carnatic music, some get inspired by hindustani. Some get inspired by something as profound as jazz. Many people have experienced that in Yamini. We usually wrap up at 6.30 am, when the first rays of the sun fall on the stage, on the artist. It’s a very ethereal experience to see the moon fading out and the sun rays falling on the stage. The event brings together vocal music, instrumental music and dance.
How do differences in listening, watching and embodied attention shape the audience’s engagement across the night?
The atmosphere opens people up. Even if someone comes for one form, they become receptive to others. Listening itself becomes a form of learning. I myself can say that I have learned to appreciate carnatic music, because I sat through many, many performances.
Time itself seems to be a quiet collaborator in Yamini. How do late-night and early-morning performances alter the listener’s sense of raga, rhythm and emotional intensity?
Certain ragas are meant to be performed at midnight or dawn and are rarely heard today. Yamini allows these rare musical moments, including the rudra veena and early-morning ragas, to be experienced at the right time. Since evening concerts, from 6 to 9 pm is what is common, many of the ragas, which you can sing at midnight, or which you can sing early in the morning get left out during the evening concerts.
How does holding Yamini through the night on the eve of Republic Day shape the event’s meaning beyond the performances themselves?
Artistes often conclude with patriotic or devotional compositions, creating a collective emotional preparation for Republic Day. Since it is a holiday, audiences can fully immerse themselves without pressure.
Entry free, January 25 & 26, 6.30 pm to 7 am. At Bannerghatta Road.
Written by: Emmanuel Thomas
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