Bangalore Hosts Music Concert With 1008 Veenas on March 28

In a first-of-its-kind, the Art of Living (AoL) Foundation is hosting a music concert with 1,008 veenas on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at the Bangalore Palace grounds to create awareness about Indian classical music and inspire the younger generation.

The orchestra will showcase veena exponents from Bangalore, Mangalore, Udupi, Mysore, Kollegala, Mandya, Tumkur, Chitradurga and Shimoga across Karnataka with performances by its masters and their disciples.

A similar event in 2008 when 1,094 sitarists staged a concert on Brahm Naad in New Delhi inspired AoL to organize this concert titled 'Sahasra Veena Jhenkara' where over 808 women and 200 men will participate.

The music for the 1,008-piece veena orchestra is based on ancient ragas such as hamsadwani, sriraga, mohana, mayamalavagowla, brindavani, kapi, dhanashree, yaman.

A special composition of fusion music in raga malika will also be played to enlighten the audience with the nuances of the instrument.

In the past, AoL conducted the 'Naadha Vaibhavam' concert in Chennai where 5,000 Carnatic musicians performed in unison in 2011 and 'Antarnaad' event with 2,750 Hindustani classical vocalists singing at a time in 2010.

As one of the ancient string instruments in south India, the 1.5-metre long veena is made of jackwood.