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Showing posts with the label Pianist

Karl Lutchmayer Concert in Aid of Child’s Play (India) Foundation

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Child’s Play (India) Foundation is an NGO that nurtures musical talent among underprivileged children in Goa, giving them a sense of accomplishment and confidence that helps build character and enables them to envision a better future for themselves. The NGO, which was founded by Dr Luis Francisco Dias in 2009, has completed ten years of transformative work.  Child’s Play (India) Foundation (CPIF) has had two major concerts every year since 2014, the Camerata Child’s Play India performed at the Monte Music Festival in 2014, Dr Luis has spoken about CPIF’s work at the INK Talks in 2010 and 2014. Aside from these achievements, CPIF’s work has been highlighted in well-known national and international publications such as the Reader’s Digest , The Hindu and Deutsche Welle . This year’s celebratory events started off with the successful Monsoon Concert on the 21st of September, which had performances by the Baridisi Quartet and the duo of Omar de Loiola Pereira (guitar) and Selwyn Menezes

An Advocate for Music Education

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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

Banishing Musical Boundaries

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India is very fortunate to have talent galore. From time to time, this is a country that has gifted prodigies to the world. Marialena Fernandes is one of our shining examples in the sphere of music. Her fingers run effortlessly across the piano keys, evoking the classical masters as well as entertaining with improvisational compositions and fusion music. Needless to say, this native of Mangaluru (Mangalore), who has laid claim to her Goan roots, enthralled her audience at the Art Chamber in Calangute in the month of February, 2015. She was in India on tour with the folk group Hotel Palindrome. Though she was born and bred in Mumbai, she seems to have a strong affinity towards Goa and supports her Goan ancestry, citing her own research and history saying, ‘The Mangaloreans were Goans, who left Goa for several reasons in the late 16th century.’ Marialena’s talent was discovered at a very tender age. She says, ‘My mother reminds me that I dared to correct her wrong note on the piano, when

Keys of Enchantment

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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