Music Gurus Concert Series Featuring Two Grammy Award Winners
An Initiative To Raise Awareness On World Aids Day.
- (1888PressRelease) May 07, 2012 - Toumani Diabaté UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador and Pandit Vishwamohan Bhatt acclaimed Grammy award winners performed in New Delhi on today at Nehru Park, Chanakyapuri starting 7 p.m. The three city tour presented by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in collaboration with UNAIDS, Uninor and Indigo Live, was a part of an ongoing campaign to fight the discrimination and stigma faced by people living with HIV. The concert broguth together two renowned artists on a common platform to create an eclectic blend of symphonies on two rare and unique musical instruments- the harp-like African Kora and the Veena.
The maestros performed in Mumbai on November 30, 2011 and will perform in Bangalore on December 4, 2011.
UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador Toumani Diabaté and Pandit Vishwamohan Bhatt began their performances in Mumbai at The Turf Club on November 30, 2011 with stirring renditions on the Kora and the Veena respectively. The tour will then move on to Delhi for a concert on December 3, 2011 and in Bangalore on December 4, 2011.
As an internationally acclaimed musician, Toumani, with his outreach and dedication, uses music as a tool to empower people and spread awareness messages about the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS. Diabaté has already participated in various outreach campaigns.
"AIDS has proved to be much more than an epidemic - it is a movement that has inspired activists across the world and well beyond the sphere of health. That activism is more important now than ever. UNAIDS is proud to bring together two Grammy winners, who will advocate through music on the eve of World AIDS Day the end of stigma associated with HIV." says Charles Gilks, country coordinator, UNAIDS.
"The vision of ICCR is to enhance and promote cultural collaborations and dialogue between different genres of art forms which go towards building friendly partnerships and interactions between the different peoples, societies and countries. It is ICCR's conviction that this dialogue will leave a durable impact to achieve the purposes of ICCR which is guided by the ancient Indian wisdom of Vasudeva Kutumbakam, the world is a family" shared Mr Suresh K Goel, Director General ICCR.
"ICCR is therefore delighted to collaborate with Indigo Live and UNAIDS in organizing the concert between the well known player of Vichitra Vina, Pt.Vishwamohan Bhatt and the UNNAIDS goodwill Ambassador and the famous percussionist from Mali Toumani Diabate . ICCR is further delighted to be associated with the objective of the concert which is to create awareness in India and around the world about the need to address the scourge of AIDS in a humane and socially responsible manner. We are confident that the performances of these two Gammy Award Winners to commemorate World AIDS Day in India will enthrall the audiences and spread the message about AIDS" continued Suresh K Goel.
"Uninor is a young mobile operator that 30 million customers - majority of whom are young Indians - rely on everyday to talk to their friends, families and colleagues. We believe we have an important part and an important responsibility here - in taking this message to our customers and making brand Uninor stand alongside the partners in this cause," said Yogesh Malik, Chief Operating Officer, Uninor Speaking about the unique concert tour, Shom Jagtiani, COO & Director Indigo Music Pvt. Ltd. (Indigo Live) said "The Music Gurus concert series is an attempt of Indigo Live to create unique collaborations between leading musicians from India and from different parts of the world, joining hands to promote a noble cause. We are happy to start the Music Gurus series featuring two legendary musicians and Grammy Award winners, joining hands to strengthen ties between the two countries and to raise awareness on HIV / AIDS mitigation initiatives of UNAIDS".
As an internationally acclaimed musician and AIDS advocate, Toumani Diabaté, with his outreach and dedication, helps UNAIDS move forward the AIDS response. He was appointed UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador on 12 December 2008. Today, he uses his music to empower people and spread awareness messages.
About -:
UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador Toumani Diabaté
Toumani Diabaté is a kora player from Mali who has gained international acclaim for his music. The 2006 Grammy Award winner for the best traditional world music album Toumani Diabaté descends from a long line of oral historians and praise singers. He has blended this ancient West African music tradition with other modern and traditional music from across the world. In addition, he has been instrumental in introducing the Kora, a 21-string harp lute, to audiences around the world and in developing the Kora into a solo concert instrument. Mr. Diabaté has participated in various outreach campaigns with the Haut Conseil National de Lutte contre le Sida in Mali. As a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador, his voice will also raise awareness on the impact of AIDS on individuals and their families.
External links:
Toumani Diabaté official web site
http://www.worldcircuit.co.uk/#Toumani_Diabate
Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt,
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt is an Indian slide guitar player. He is the creator of the Mohan Veena and has attracted international attention by his successful indianisation of the western Hawaiian guitar with his perfect assimilation of sitar, sarod & veena techniques, by giving it a evolutionary design & shape and by adding 14 more strings . He performs Hindustani classical music and won a Grammy Award in 1994 for his album A Meeting by the River with Ry Cooder and other fusion and pan-cultural collaborations with Western artists like Taj Mahal, Béla Fleck and Jerry Douglas. He is best known, although exposures such as appearances on the 2004 Crossroads Guitar Festival, which was organized by Eric Clapton. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1998 and the Padma Shri in 2002.
Being the foremost disciple of Pt. Ravi Shankar, Vishwa Mohan belongs to that elite body of musicians which traces its origin to the Moughal emperor Akbar's court musician TANSEN and his guru the Hindu Mystic Swami Haridas.
About UNAIDS
UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, is an innovative United Nations partnership that leads and inspires the world in achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Learn more at unaids.org.
About Indigo Live
Indigo live is India's premier live music network and artist management company set up as a joint Venture between Red Light Management of the United States and Jupiter Media and Entertainment Ventures. Red Light Management is a leading Talent Management Company that has many globally reputed artistes that it manages. In the music business, RLM is known to be a powerhouse of talent across multiple genres of music. Through this JV, Indigo Live plans to produce music events featuring renowned international music acts and leading and upcoming Indian talent under its own label and create live music properties across urban markets in India, through proprietary concert series as well as create its own multi - day, multi genre music festivals that will overtime become a travel and tourist destination.
For further information, please contact:
UNAIDS-
Zainab Nedou- +919810383456
Avian Media-
Anjali Gupta- +919873987009
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