South Asian Arts-uk’s Summer Solstice festival in Leeds attracted a good audience. The concert is the only one of its kind in the UK which celebrates Indian Classical Music. Running for its third year, the extravaganza of music encompassed a unique array of internationally acclaimed artists of Indian classical music who performed from the sunset through to sunrise.It’s been the most popular Summer Solstice since its conception.
The inspiration behind the festival comes from Keranjeet Kaur Virdee, Chief Executive of SAA-uk, who established the concert in response to increased artists demands, she comments; “The idea came to me when I heard musicians talking about the compositions of music they spend a long time practicing but rarely get chance to perform. A raga uses a series of musical notes upon which a melody is constructed and is associated with a time, season or emotion. Rarely do musicians have the opportunity to play late at night andinto the early morning, times which evoke the true essence of the music that the unknown composers aim tocapture. This festival gives the artists the chance to showcase their musical abilities to a wide audience.