PANAJI
For the first time since its inception in 2016, the Ketevan Sacred Music repertoire will be streamed online this year from April 6 to 8 and will offer a stellar line-up of international events shot in heritage sites, along with distinguished speakers, religious leaders and unique performances from India, USA, UK, Portugal, Japan, Georgia and Argentina. These productions were specially recorded and produced by the Ketevan in 12 cities across the world.
The Goa University Choir, as the host and resident artists’ collective, has recorded three pieces - The Big Ocean Cantata I, dedicated to the Dalai Lama on his visit to Goa in Dec 2019, the Vox Clamantis oratory (world premiere), written as a tribute to Charles de Foucault who will be canonised by Pope Francis this year and the Prayer of Peace by St Francis of Assisi which is a dhrupad/choral collaboration with the award-winning singer, Pandit Ritwik Sanyal.
The Ketevan is now regarded as one of India’s premier music festivals and is noted for its high standards and eclectic wide-ranging programmes. Its co-founder and artistic director, Dr Santiago Lusardi Girelli says, “In these times of social distancing, an uncertain future and ongoing crisis, it is essential to recover the value and richness of the sacred, the incorruptible, the eternal. This is how our festival seeks to recreate that atmosphere, where the sacredness of sound leads us to distinguish the perishable from the eternal, and allows us to find eternity in our own voices."
These performances and the online treasure trove of all other videos, interviews and past concerts will be available for the worldwide audience, for free, on the festival’s website, ketevansacredmusicfestival.com and on YouTube Ketevan Sacred Music Channel.
