Prutha Goa

It is a rare breed of humans who look for more than establishing their own worth and engaging in the pursuit of ambition. Indian-American Lara Saldanha is one of that rare breed. 14 January 2018 saw her playing a benefit concert for Goa’s own Child’s Play (India) Foundation, which was founded by Dr Luis Dias to bring the skill of reproducing Western Classical to underprivileged children on the lines of El Sistema. The 25-year-old pianist entertained the audience with a programme that included works by Bach, Haydn, Clara Schumann, and Messiaen. Lara Saldanha has a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and studied under the acclaimed pianist Alan Chow. She has an additional bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University, USA and is at present in the process of attaining a Master of Music at The New School’s Mannes School of Music in New York City, being mentored by Vladimir Valjarević. An accomplished pianist in her own right, Lara has won prizes at competitions such as Gen

ProMusica brought Goa an excellent performance by musicians Rupert Boyd and Laura Metcalf on the 7th of September 2016. Western classical music is a finely nuanced art form not particularly endemic to Goa. There have been efforts to generate an interest in this genre of music but few seem interested in what is generally considered the taste of the upper classes. This is, however, a thoroughly unfair representation. It is true that some amount of education in the area does help one appreciate Western classical music more effectively. Nonetheless, a true music lover could easily tune into the notes and enjoy the musical scores despite being ignorant of the details of the same. In Goa we are blessed to have groups like ProMusica that promote Western classical music and allow us the opportunity to experience music at a refined level. It is a pity that most Goans do not take the opportunity offered to them at a negligible cost. The audience that did take advantage of the ProMusica presented

In January 2015, Goa was privileged to have Dr Eugene Alcalay perform at various places. It is rare treat to encounter a pianist of such excellence and one of considerable humility too. From the moment he stepped on to the performance stage, he had the audience enchanted, be it his humorous explanations of the pieces of music he was to play or his stupendous command over his art. The Institute Menezes Braganza had people who were taken up in rapt attention to call for encores at the conclusion of the recital. Presently a professor at University of Wisconsin—Platteville, USA, this native of Bucharest, Romania, proved he was of exceptional calibre when he began playing the piano at the age of two and composing at the age of eight. It is no wonder then that his genius, reminiscent of Mozart, brought him to the attention of Leonard Bernstein and in time caused him to be the first recipient of The Leonard Bernstein Scholarship at the Indiana University School of Music. Bernstein was a famed