Acclaimed musicians will gather at one of the most historic cultural hubs in the West Midlands for a one-off show celebrating traditional Indian music and its crossover with the western world on Saturday, December 9.
Bridging the Gap: A Night of Music will see five musicians head to St Mary’s Guildhall, the 14th century venue in the heart of Coventry, for an interactive performance combining Indian and Western classical music.
The evening will be split into two parts, the first featuring Indian classical violin pieces and traditional Indian percussion and the second swapping mridangam and ghatam for drums and piano – with explanations after every piece as the artists explore the similarities and differences between the two sounds.
The show, which starts at 7pm, will take place in the Guildhall’s Great Hall, the atmospheric room home to major parties, gatherings and performances throughout the centuries.
The artists bringing together the two musical traditions are Srividya Venkat (violin), Vishnu Swaroop (mridangam), Dr Jaishankar (ghatam), Mahindra Patel (drums) and Ananditha Venkatramana (piano).
Srividya Venkat, violinist and performer on the night, said: “As a musician I have believed music is a universal language and it always fascinates me to see the commonalities it shares whatever language or way the art is expressed. It is an honour to be performing at this iconic venue and it is a wonderful opportunity to explore and engage with the wider audience.”
Bridging the Gap will be the first show dedicated to music to be held at the 700-year-old venue since completing a £6m renovation in 2022.
Niamh Carton, Community Engagement Manager at St Mary’s Guildhall said: “We are really excited to be hosting a night of extraordinary sound and musical insight from this incredible collection of performers.
“The Great Hall lends itself perfectly to music and performances of all kinds, and this harmony between cultures is a great way to mark our first exclusive-music show since reopening last summer.”
Tickets are priced at just £10 per person and can be booked at www.stmarysguildhall.co.uk
The recent major package of restoration and refurbishment at St Mary’s Guildhall has been made possible through the Cultural Capital Investment Fund resourced by Coventry City Council, Arts Council England, and the Government’s Getting Britain Building Fund through Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, and with the support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players
Caption: 'What We Wore' Stories of South Asian Textiles exhibition, a partnership between Hardish Virk, St. Mary's Guildhall and Coventry Artspace funded by National Heritage Lottery Fund, which took place during South Asian Heritage Month 2023
(Credit: Ayesha Jones)