REWINDING IIGF DEC 2016

Three days long IIGF DEC 2016 was held at ICCR, Kolkata, from 2nd - 4th December.

Performers

• Guitar Maestro Derek Gripper ( Capetown, Souith Africa )
• Debashish Bhattacharya with Galaxy of maestros - (India) - Indian Classical Music.
• Anandi Bhattacharya - Vocal (India).
• Chandrima Roy (India)
• Amano Manish - Chaturangui (India).
• Charu Hariharan - Mridangam, Kahon (India).
• Naomi Jean - Vocal (Germany).
• Monia Rękoś - Vocal (Poland).
• Carola Ortiz - Singer, clarinetist and composer (Spain).
• The Bodhisatwa Trio (India).
• Katy Murphy (Australia).
• Nishad Pandey - Guitarist and Composer (India).

Exotic perfumes, timeless airs and siren voices are enchanted the very walls of the Satyajit Ray Auditorium at the Grand Finale of the 3rd edition of the IIGF. On the 4th Dec 2016. Audiences were treated to a spicy ensemble of fantastic female artists from Europe, Oceania and India, at the world-premiere of O' Shakuntala: The Plight of Lovelessness. Inspired by the ancient tale of Abhjnanashakuntalam by Kalidasa, this multicultural musical odyssey highlights the perils and tragedies of a loveless society, whilst simultaneously celebrating the myriad forms of love, from heartbreak to ecstasy.

Highlighting vocalists and the diverse songlines they carry, O' Shakuntula featured Mediterranean love ballads, Indian Classical music, Thumri, Tagore and Baul, alongside Celtic Folk songs and original Contemporary compositions. Backed by a fleet of accomplished jazz and classical musicians from Kolkata and beyond, Anandi Bhattacharya (India), Carola Ortiz (Spain), Naomi Jean (Australia), Katy Murphy (Australia) and Monia Rekos (Poland), with Bengali narration by Chandrima Roy, delivered a soiree full of heart to the City of Joy.

2nd Dec, 2016, South African musician Derek Gripper has spent much of his career translating highly complex kora compositions for classical guitar, while Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya invented the 'Trinity of Slide Guitars' an awe-inspiring innovation that was designed to play and represent Indian Classical Music on the slide guitar. Not only did his innovations take the world by storm, his style of playing encompassed and adapted smoothly across myriad genres. Each has redefined the styles of music possible on his instrument, inventing new playing techniques and developing bold new repertoires. Both Gripper and Bhattacharya like to collaborate with musicians from cultural traditions very different from their own; in this project, they brought their elegant and virtuosic string styles into glorious, inventive dialogue.

REWINDING IIGF JAN 2016

Five days long IIGF JAN 2016 was held at ICCR, Gandhi Bhavan, GD Birla Sabhaghar, Kolkata, from 6th - 10th January.

Performers

• René Lacaille - (France)
• Daniel Shane Thomas (USA)
• Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri
• Pt. Tanmoy Bose
• Pt. Debashish Bhattacharya
• Amyt Dutta - (Jazz/Rock)
• Underground Authority - (Indian Rock)
• Bart Steinhouse & Band - (Australia)
• Giuliano Modarelli (UK)
• Charu Hariharan
• Shoichiro Goto (Japan)
• Gal Maestro (Israel).

The festival was graced by musical luminaries like Ms. Minakshi Mishra (Regional Director, RTC, ICCR), Pt. Swapan Chowdhury, Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, Debashish Konar, Kolkata Mayor in Council, Director Alliance Francaise, Stephan Amalir, Dev Sen, Ratul Shankar, Tanmoy Bose.

There were several major workshops and interactive sessions with guitar masters and budding talents, besides Competitions in different categories to bring the talents into the limelight, Press conference, Evening concerts of solo, duet, trio and orchestra performances. All Guitar Genres from Rock, Jazz to Indian slide Guitar, Fusion to creative contemporary Guitar music, Music from Raga to Blues, Rabindranath to Debashish Bhattacharya. Its truly Vasundhara Mahotsav, and India International Guitar Festival.

REWINDING IIGF 2015

Five days long IIGF 2015 was held at RTC, ICCR, Kolkata from 7- 11th January.

Performers

• Pt. Vishwamohan Bhatt
• Pt. Bickram Ghosh
• Pt. Tanmoy Bose
• Pt. Yogesh Samsi
• Pt. Debashish Bhattacharya
• Dr. Kamala Shankar
• Shri Prakash Sontakke
• Grammy Awardee Jeff Peterson (Hawaii)
• Alan Akaka (Hawaii)
• Johannes Moller (Holland)
• Shoichiro Goto (Japan)
• Tomo Nori (Japan)
• Dipon Sarkar (Bangladesh)
• Sushmita Kabir Asha (Bangladesh)

The festival was graced by musical luminaries like Ms. Minakshi Mishra (Regional Director, RTC, ICCR), Pt. Anindo Chattopadhyay, Pt. Vijay Kumar Kichlu, Pt. Shankar Ghosh, Actor Jaya Sil Ghosh, Actor Saheb Chatterjee, American Consulate, French Ambassador, Director of Alliance Francaise and Pt Brij Bhushan Kabra.

There were several major workshops and interactive sessions with guitar masters and budding talents, besides Competitions in different categories to bring the talents into the limelight, Press conference, Evening concerts of solo, duet, trio and orchestra performances.