Music that binds

Music knows no boundaries. That's perhaps why when Talisman, a world music group at Stanford University, California, found similarities in the way The Sound Space (TSS), a Mumbai-based initiative, approaches music, all it took was a few email exchanges to bridge the 8,500-mile distance. This Sunday marks the group's India debut, Mumbai being their first stop as part of a 10-day tour.

The Mumbai performance, called Naad, will be an a cappella one where 15 students of TSS will open the show, which will be followed by a collaborative performance between them and Talisman singers. For the finale, eight Stanford students will present their repertoire, which includes songs from their 2019 selection as well as classics.

A Sound Space session with kids

"Talisman had been following what we do, and they contacted us for a collaboration because they know that we reach out to a range of people," says Kamakshi Khurana, who founded TSS with her sister Vishala 13 years ago, about the philosophy that binds them. Trained in Indian classical music from Lucknow University, it was their bachelor's degree in psychology, which afforded them the ability to understand the human mind and take the help of music to affect it.

Kamakshi and Vishala Khurana

"Our aim is to spread music education and therapy and music from different cultures, and use it as a catalyst to get through to people from diverse sections of society," she adds, referring to their work in old age homes, cancer care centres as well as the corporate sector, and their music education programmes in schools, which often culminate in concerts where children from international and NGO schools perform together. Talisman, on the other hand, was founded in 1990, in solidarity with the anti-Apartheid movement, to bring to light under-represented music and stories on campus. Its musicality thus has roots in the South African tradition, but the repertoire now includes well-loved compositions from the world over. A multicultural group - it currently includes students from India, Thailand, Zimbabwe and the US - its selection for this year features Aye Mere Watan ke Logon and Dil Diya Gallan.

The initial talks began in December, and through email exchanges and watching a few videos, the Talisman and TSS students have prepared parts of a popular Indian song, which they will present together. "Vishala and I believe that all kinds of music need to be appreciated and we want our students to be exposed to it. Which is why we have elements of western classical music as well as African folk rhythms in our sessions, but a cappella is a different style of music, which hasn't been explored extensively in India," shares Khurana. She adds that the Talisman group will also conduct a workshop for the children. "This will help us teach our kids to think in a cappella style, as the voice application is so different. When they see a performance of this level, it is a nudge for them to take their art form more seriously."

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