Music festival to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi

The 29th edition of Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival (LGMF) will see globally renowned violinist L Subramaniam along with popular vocalist and his wife Kavita Krishnamurti pay musical tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary.

The travelling music festival, which begins here at the Siri Fort Auditorium on January 4, will also feature Symphony Orchestra of Castile and Leon from Spain, announced the organisers.

"Music by itself stands for peace. This year we are giving a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. Two compositions 'Vaishnav Janato' and 'Raghupati Raghav' among others will be performed at the concerts," said Subramaniam.

It will also feature other compositions of the music powerhouse couple like "Nada Priya", a tribute to Purandaradasa, "Jo Tum Todo", a Meera bhajan, and "Spring Rhapsody" (Orchestra solo), he added.

For the unversed, the festival, first established in 1992 by violin virtuoso Subramaniam in memory of his late father and mentor V Lakshminarayana, aims to promote, preserve and nurture Indian music through global collaborations.

Primarily started in India, the festival, which till now has travelled to 5 continents -- over 23 countries and 56 cities -- has witnessed performances by legends and doyens of world music including MS Subbulakshmi, Pt. Jasraj, Bismillah Khan, Gangubai Hangal, Balamurali George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Jean Luc Ponty, Al Jarreau, Hubert Laws, Oystein Baadsvik and Liepajas Symphony Orchestra.

After the concert in New Delhi, the festival will move to Hyderabad and Pune on January 6th and 8th, respectively.