The annual SIFAS Festival of Arts 2021 will provide a platform to over 40 upcoming and professional artistes, all local to Singapore. Supported by the National Arts Council (NAC), the Festival aims to celebrate Indian Classical Arts in Singapore and will take place from March 19-28.
For the first time, SIFAS will be launching an APP putting music in viewers’ palms, a Virtual Visual Art Gallery, and the Dhwani Black Box.
“SIFAS Festival of Arts 2021, is the culmination of the strong spirit of the artists’ to perform in person – in real, and the community’s desire for live performances. Despite all the constraints, with the support of Esplanade, NAC, our partners, donors, and keen music enthusiasts, we could put together this festival that exclusively features all the local artists. Delighted to say it’s a breath of fresh air, after the difficult year, we all have had. The initiatives of the mobile App, Dhwani Black box, have all helped us re-invent ourselves and bring us closer to our community,” said KV Rao, President SIFAS
“The highly anticipated SIFAS Music Festival is here again this year, albeit with all Covid restrictions. SIFAS is very pleased to re-kindle the spirit of live concerts & performances which is the most satisfying aspect for any artiste. We are hopeful and confident that the art & culture will infuse positivity and optimism,” added Narayanan Balasubramanian, Vice President SIFAS.
Held mainly at the SIFAS Stage, there will be 15 programmes, organised over 10 days. Aimed at reviving the spirit of the arts, the festival, now in its 18th year, will also include 2 original SIFAS productions in collaboration with The Esplanade.
‘Vaadhya Samhita – A Confluence of Strings’ – An instrumental Jugalbandi, will be performed by Sanjay Chakrabarty, a global technopreuner in Singapore, on Sarod, Guru Susanta Choudhury on Sitar, Guru Nellai Ravindran on Violin, Guru Ganesh Kumar on Violin, Guru Mihir Kundu on Tabla, and Guru Tripunithura Sreekanth on Mridangam. This concert, to be held at the Esplanade Recital Studio on Friday, March 26, is a contemporary expression of a harmonious and synergistic melding of the string instruments associated with the Hindustani and the Carnatic classical traditions.
‘Prakriti Vikriti: Nature’s Nature Revisited’ – A musical-dance production, interweaving of two Indian classical dance forms, Bharatanatyam and Kathak, and portraying the vagaries of Nature. This repertoire, first produced in 2018, explores how the five elements, earth, water, fire, wind, and cosmos, unite to let Mother Nature bloom and thrive, or rage and destruct, in response to human actions. Prakriti Vikriti will be held at The Esplanade Theatre, on Saturday, March 27.