Taking Indian Music Worldwide
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New Delhi, 4th April, 2021 Taking Indian Music Worldwide A Research Collaboration between some of the Highest Awarded Indian Artists of Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, New Delhi, India; Ithaca College in New York, USA; and the University of Geneva, Switzerland. By Dr Bharat Bhushan Research Scholar UGC’s Junior & Senior Research Fellowship Holder Consultant (Music), Sangeet Natak Akademi - India’s National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama (An autonomous body of Ministry of Culture, Government of India) and Assistant Professor (Music) in Department of Higher Education, Jammu and Kashmir, India Dr. Luis De La Calle has recently produced a musical album, Rainbow of Endless Love, which was inspired by the magical lyrics of eight poems from the Gita Govinda written by Jayadeva Goswami, and used its ragas and talas. The eight compositions were composed and performed by Dr. Luis De La Calle and released by Sony Music International, Japan. This is the first time in history that a music album based on the Gita Govinda has been produced and released worldwide by an international music company such as Sony Music. This album aims to create a niche for Indian music in the international music field and industry. As the world continues to be plunged into a period of insecurity, socio-cultural and solidarity initiatives such as the Rainbow of Endless Love show the most beautiful facets of humanity and its creativity. This is an album that promises to promote intercultural unity and innovation in music on a global level by combining the classical music elements of three cultures, i.e., Indian, Inca, and European. The De La Calle Quena Flute featured as the main instrument in Rainbow of Love, is an innovative design by Dr De La Calle and showcases his cross-cultural ingenuity by combining the Inca head joint (the pre-Inca Andean flute) with the key mechanism of the European transverse flute. Cover album by Sony Music Japan, with Radha and Krishna dressed in Andean outfits set in Machu Picchu, Peru, and with a backward Vedic Yantra, symbolizing the Inca empire (Chacana) The album Rainbow of Endless Love was featured on the website and the cover of "Record Collectors" magazine, along with a 2-page article interviewing Dr Luis De La Calle about this album. The Record Collectors magazine (the Japanese Billboard) is one of the most prestigious and popular music magazines in Japan. Rainbow of Endless Love has been chosen by Record Collectors as one of the best musical productions of 2020, appearing together with the albums of Elton John, Eric Clapton, Elvis Presley, Charlie Parker, Santana, Bruce Springsteen, AC / DC, and Jimmy Hendricks. Furthermore, Pipers Q&A, the most prestigious wind instruments magazine in Japan, dedicated a 5-page article to Rainbow of Endless Love and Dr Luis De La Calle’s unique and international career. Dr Luis De La Calle also produced four music videos for four of the songs in the album which are available on the official Sony Music YouTube channel. The following lyrics from the following video clip of the “Rainbow of Endless Love” album belongs to a poem from the Gita Govinda originally sung by Shrimati Radharani where she reveals her secret feelings to her intimate female companion by describing the spellbinding beauty of Sri Krishna's form: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YY1apYi-Q0 "His black hair with His peacock feathers, From my sweet young boy, Is like a thick black cloud, Surrounded by a colourful rainbow, I'm unable to stop thinking of My Shyamasundara, Because He’s My soul, He is playing on His flute, Mohana, Music flows out from His lips, Sweet as Bandhu, flowers from Vraja. Shyam, My life, We will see each other at the Kadamba tree, His amazing love inspires Me to sing this song, Cupid immerses Me in endless love, Prince My beloved, My sweet love, My beautiful young boy, He is My Shyamasundara”. Here is the link to the whole album: https://smdr.lnk.to/XuBkLM The De La Calle Quena Flute ™, a flute innovation at the heart of the album The De La Calle Quena Flute design combines the traditional quena head joint with the key mechanism of the European transverse flute’s body. The quena is the pre-Inca Andean end- blown flute (of over 5000-year-old tradition) which has the same head joint as ancient flutes such as the Shakuhachi from Japan and Xiao from China. The De La Calle Quena Flute is a demonstration of Dr De La Calle’s mastery of multicultural integration of four music cultures in one musical instrument: the three mentioned ancient cultures with the Western European culture in music. After winning first prize in an invention/innovation competition organized by Lund University in Sweden, the De La Calle Quena Flute was accepted as a musical instrument in the study programmes of this university. Dr. Luis De La Calle performing on the flute that he invented, the De La Calle Quena Flute TM An exceptional innovator and leader in the music world Genius, multiculturalism, innovation and philanthropy define Dr Luis De La Calle. Dr Luis De La Calle is one of the most exceptional innovators in the music world. His artistic work is a multifaceted integration of ancient eastern and western cultures in the fields of research (e.g., how music education impacts transversal learning with Vedic maths), education, performance, composition, the innovation of musical instruments, and philanthropy. The United Nations has used his unique contributions to promote the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals as per the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet. Dr Luis De La Calle is a member of the Research Team on the Didactic of Arts and Movement (DAM) at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, a member of the International Council (CID) at UNESCO in Paris, France, and a Sony Music Recording Artist, Japan (flautist and composer). Three decades of intense training artistically, intellectually, and spiritually with great masters from India, Japan, Europe (Music Conservatories and Universities in Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland) and South America brings the aesthetics of his music to the soul of human nature and helps to solve, in peace and with beauty, the problems of today. After living and studying in Peru, Japan and India for 27 years, Dr Luis De La Calle moved to Europe in 1999 and lived in Denmark for 14 years. He studied the European transverse flute at the Copenhagen Pre-Conservatory of Music in Denmark. He was also awarded two masters degrees (in education and educational sciences) and one bachelor’s degree by Lund University, Sweden as a soloist on the De La Calle Quena Flute. Lund University recognized Dr Luis De La Calle as the first individual in the history of music to earn a university degree based on his musical invention. Dr Luis De La Calle earned not one but two degrees, i.e., a bachelor’s degree in performance and a master’s degree in music education. Dr. De La Calle’s performance of his compositions on the De La Calle Quena Flute at the galas of the National Flute Associations in Sweden, USA, UK, and Australia, earned him official recognition as one of the world’s most talented flautists. At these performances, he shared the stage with individuals such as Hubert Laws, Robert Aitken, Shashank Subramanyam, and others who are also recognized as some of the world’s most talented flautists in western and non-western traditions. The President of the Parliament of Peru, the Mayor of Lima, and other mayors from the country awarded Dr Luis De La Calle with medals and diplomas, due to his international achievements on the De La Calle Quena Flute, as a revolutionary multicultural musical instrument. Cultural background: his life and realizations within Vedic culture Dr Luis De La Calle was born in Peru, the land of Inca culture. At the age of five, following the oral tradition of observation, listening, and imitation, he learned to play Latin folk music on both the quena (Andean end-blown flute) and the siku (Andean pan flute). During his ten years of study, he learnt playing the original character of the ancient quena, which dates back more than five thousand years (Baumann, 1996), “an opening where the soul gives the best of oneself; if the player doesn't have a cultivated spirit, the result will be poor”. At age fourteen, Dr Luis De La Calle won first prize in three national music competitions as best quena and siku player (professional level) in Peru, organized by the Ministry of Education of Peru and the Embassy of Germany in Lima. Upon visiting Peru and hearing Dr Luis De La Calle’s solo concerts, a famous Japanese actress, Jun Arai, proposed that he further his career in Japan. Following her advice, at age 16, Dr Luis De La Calle became a disciple of the Noh theatre Master Hideo Kanze, one of the most talented descendant-masters of the Kanze school, which was founded in the fourteenth century. During his study in Japan, Master Kanze was the director of Dr Luis De La Calle’s solo concerts. Under his direction, Dr Luis De La Calle learned how Zen Buddhism (whereby one meditates on unity of the mind, the instrument, and the body) is incorporated into the ritualization of Japanese music. It was here that Dr Luis De La Calle took his first step in cross-cultural music integration by applying this traditional Zen Buddhist meditation with his performance on the quena and siku.