‘In Conversation with Music’... the title says it all. Today, on World Music Day, singer-composer Sajna Vinish and a team of musicians hold a musical event wherein the audience gets to talk about music and also jam with the artistes. The event is at B-hub, Nalanchira, a co-working space that is also hosting the event with Sajna.
“The artiste performs and the audience listens. That’s the format of any music programme. But here we encourage the crowd to be part of the performance. They can converse about a particular song, share their personal memories with the group and perform with us,” says Sajna, assistant professor in music at Government Women’s College in the city. Sajna says that she was looking forward to stage an unplugged music session in the city. “I did a one-hour session at The Muse Room in Kochi last year with my students of Maharaja’s College after I launched my first single. It came out well and so I wanted to do something on a bigger scale in the city. A friend suggested this space in B-hub and it just fit into what I had in mind.
One-to-one sessions
The seating arrangement is informal with the audience making themselves comfortable on sofas, bean bags or chairs. I walk around, chatting and singing with them,” she says.
Performance space at B-hub, Nalanchira | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
The two-hour session is divided into three sections: first up is nostalgia, which is dedicated to evergreen songs in any language. “The crowd can suggest a particular song and talk about why they relate to it. Then we move on to ‘Love and friendship’. This is again an interactive segment where we breeze through many hit songs based around love and friendship. The listeners can sing or we will present the song and jam with them,” she adds. The final part will see the musician inviting the participants to choose from a set of eight to 10 songs in different languages. She will present her original compositions as well and will wind up with a medley of songs.
Performance space at B-hub, Nalanchira | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Performing with Sajna are Abhijith Damodaran (vocal and acoustic guitar), Abin Sagar (lead guitar and programming), Joel Jackson (percussion) and Jackson Varghese (keyboard). “While Abhijith was my student at Maharaja’s, the others are from Kozhikode,” she says. Being a first-of-its-kind attempt, the number of seats are limited. The audience turns up in black and white attire. Time: 6.30 pm to 8 pm.
Fact file
Sajna Vinish, a trained musician and a former VJ, has composed two songs, Orma Pookkal... and Kana Kana Vaazhgiren.... In 2015, she gave a 12-hour Carnatic vocal recital in the city. She is the author of Gayathri-Women Stalwarts in Carnatic Music.