The 2019 OVK/Bach Melharmony Festival in western Dane County promises an especially rich program of internationally known artists together with up-and-coming performers and school ensembles. In an interview recorded Octrober 27th, noted chitravina virtuoso N. Ravikiran and Vanitha Suresh of Middleton’s Melharmony Foundation discussed the festival with WORT’s Peter Haney. Headlining artists include such world famous virtuosi as violinist L. Shankar and maestro Ravikiran himself. This annual event, now in its sixth year, aims to celebrate great contributions to Western and Indian musical traditions through multicultural music and dance programming. This year’s festival is named for Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi and Johann Sebastian Bach, composers who were contemporaries and who made parallel contributions to their respective musical traditions. It will include Ravikiran’s operatic dance production “Almighty Trinity” and Shankar’s “Lakshya.” Thanks to a grant from the Madison Community Foundation, free tickets are available to K-12 students in the greater Madison area and members of the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County. Persons interested in the free tickets may request them directly from the Melharmony Foundation. The festival lasts from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm on Saturday, November 9th at Memorial High School’s James Madison Memorial Theater, and then from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday, November 10th at the Middleton Performing Arts Center. Image: violinist L. Shankar by Mike Anthony.
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