Vadodara:
Anand Parmar,
an ace percussionist from Ahmedabad,
was forced to start driving a rickshaw when Covid-induced lockdown rang a death knell for live concerts. He had no choice but take up this work to sustain his six-member family, including three daughters.
But Parmar has finally managed to pay the fees of two daughters after getting aid generated from a 10-day global online music concert which saw doyens of music including some Grammy award winners performing for charity.
“Music is my sole earning. As live shows are not scheduled to restart in the near future, I still drive the rickshaw. But I am relieved that I could pay my daughters’ school fees ” said Parmar.
At least 100 pandemic-battered musicians from across the country have got monetary aid that was raised in the Dikshitar-Beethoven Melharmony Festival organized by the US-based Melharmony Foundation. “Lot of people from all walks of life are suffering and the impact on musicians has been really bad. I spoke to some of my colleagues in western classical and jazz music and in India too about the fund-raising idea along with identifying the needy musicians,” said Chitravina N Ravikiran, a popular Carnatic musician.
“The assistance is still ongoing as we are receiving requests and recommendations for help,” Ravikiran told TOI from the US. Like Parmar, Ajay Patel, a drummer from Ahmedabad, too received assistance from the foundation. “I was forced to sell Gujarati snacks as I had to pay for my daughter’s school fees and other expenses. In this extremely difficult situation, the donation from the foundation came as a blessing.”
The festival was organized to commemorate the 250th birth anniversary of the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven and 245th birth anniversary of Muthuswami Dikshitar, considered one of the musical trinities of Carnatic music.
The festival witnessed the confluence of four-time Grammy Awardee Glen Velez, Loire Cotler, Apollo Chamber Players, David Connor, Ed Matthew, Ben Jaeger and Steve Kurr.
The foundation generated at least US $45,000 to US $50,000.
Ravikiran said that the concert is still available online and people can watch it by contributing to the corpus.