Musical showcase for Indian heritage centre

He is big in Bollywood but last night, popular Indian singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan showed another side of his rich music repertoire.

Performing at the Esplanade, he took the audience on a unforgettable journey of the music that defines India.

Mahadevan was here for the opening of the National Heritage Board's newest heritage institution, the Indian Heritage Centre. The event kicked off the centre's inaugural CultureFest.

Among those in the audience were Minister in the Prime Minister's Office S. Iswaran, the guest of honour, and chairman of the Institute of South Asian Studies Gopinath Pillai.

The award-winning musician premiered his original piece, entitled Kaleidoscope: Musical Heritage of India. Specially created compositions that are a nod to the storyline being documented at the centre as well as its festival's theme - Kaleidoscope of Cultures - were covered through a range of music forms.

In keeping with the diversity of the Indian community, the show celebrated India's diverse music traditions. There was a mix of traditional classical Carnatic, Hindustani and folk music interspersed with jazz and rock.

deepikas@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on May 3, 2015.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.