PANJIM:
The Ketevan World Sacred Music Festival, a four-day event held in Old Goa, delighted audiences who came out in full support.
Taking inspiration from the life of St. Ketevan, the Queen of Georgia, whose remains were found in Old Goa only recently, the festival showcased sacred music traditions from different eras from the East and the West. The audience witnessed soulful music concerts, workshops and conferences with artists belonging to cultures like Western Classical, Carnatic, Orthodox Christian, Catholic, Sufi, Hindustani, Jewish, Native and others from around the world.
The distinguished soprano Natalia Lemercier from Milan, performed as a soloist in the two biggest concerts of the festival. The oratory ‘Passion Landscapes’, written for the occasion, premiered at the festival and was conducted by the composer and artistic director himself, Maestro Santiago Lusardi Girelli from Argentina. The array of musicians in this programme also included the Goa University Choir, awarded UK choir The King’s Barber, Indian soprano Rahul Bhardwaj, a string quartet, dhrupad singer Vidya Shah and dancer Gautam Nima.
The Ketevan Festival also witnessed the participation of dhrupad singer Pandit Ritwik Sanyal, from Benares; the santoor player Jonathan Voyer from Canada, Leo Rossi (Italy), Parvesh Java, Ignacio Monteverde & Dario Polonara (Argentina), Ektal Children’s Choir from Goa and the Georgian Sakhioba Ensemble. The Goa University Choir, in collaboration with renowned artists from France, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Germany, UK, Italy, Georgia and India, performed the ‘Misatango’ by the Carnegie Hall Resident Composer 2018, Martin Palmeri. This was the closing concert of the fourth edition of the festival, an eclectic and vibrating experience of music, ethnicities and traditions, where past and present become one to propitiate coexistence between cultures.
The speciality of the festival was that it took place around the different venues around Old Goa, including St. Monica, Our Lady of the Rosary, St. Augustine Ruins and St. Francis of Assisi Church. Apart from these, there were certain additional performances by the Bangalore Men (India), which conveyed the sacred theme of the festival with their choral music. These social outreach concerts extended the reach of the festival beyond Old Goa to various venues including the String Quartet at Santa Cruz School, King´s Barbers at St. Michael School, King´s Barbers at Bethesda Life Center Boys Home in Santa Cruz.
The fourth edition of Ketevan World Sacred Music Festival, 2019 was a major triumph that Old Goa witnessed. The art of music was greatly appreciated around the different sacred locations in Goa and the performers added more liveliness and spiritual enhancement to the festival.
