Shankar Mahadevan to perform at Singapore's IHC CultureFest

Renowned musician Shankar Mahadevan will perform at a special curtain-raiser show of the Indian Heritage Centre's CultureFest in Singapore on May 2, the IHC said.
The award-winning Indian musician will be premiering an original work entitled 'Kaleidoscope: Musical Heritage of India' during the CultureFest here, IHC said in a statement yesterday.
The one-night-only concert, by IHC in collaboration with Arte Compass, will jointly present the Mahadevan-led concert and will feature some specially created compositions for the event, the statement said.
The IHC is a part of Singapore's National Heritage Board and traces the history of the Indian and South Asian community in the Southeast Asian region.

The line-up will consist of a blend of genres including Classical Carnatic, Hindustani, Folk and other musical traditions such as Qawwalis, Thumris, Abhang as well as Jazz and Rock, it added.
"Mr Shankar will be accompanied by extremely talented folk artists and a group of highly-skilled musicians on the flute, tabla, guitar, keyboard, and other instruments and

Together they promise to bring audiences on a pan-Indian journey of musical traditions and to experience the rich cultural heritage of India," said the IHC, which will also be opening a new centre here early May.
"We will feature a unique presentation of some specially created compositions on the theme and I am hoping that the songs will magically create the feeling of tremendous joy," said Mahadevan, according to the IHC statement.

The versatile Indian musician has also composed a special background score for a film to be featured in IHC's permanent galleries, it said.
The film introduces the themes covered in the centre's storyline, which trace the histories, progress and achievements of the South Asian diaspora in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
It will reflect the multicultural aspects of Singapore, and fuse pan-Asian traditional and contemporary sounds to capture the essence of each theme and its visual story.
Speaking on Mahadevan's contribution to the IHC, IHC Centre Director Dr Gauri Krishnan said, "We are honoured to have collaborated with Shankar on the unique musical score for IHC's Introduction film on its permanent galleries.

Music is an integral part of many cultures, especially that of the Indians, and Shankar's creation will certainly make the museum experience for visitors to the IHC memorable, and enable them to better understand and appreciate the story and heritage of the Indian community in Singapore," IHC said.
Located at the Little India Heritage District, the centre has been scheduled to open in early May 2015 and will feature small scale museum facilities as well as programming and educational spaces.