Biennale Music Show Brings Old and New Melodies

KOCHI:
Bright sunshine and therapeutic music lit up the premises of the General Hospital here today as singers K S Binu Anand and Nikitha Raj pieced together an array of songs for the patients as part of the Kochi Biennale Foundation’s weekly Arts and Medicine show.
Binu began with a devotional song ‘Chandana pakshi’, marking Sri Krishna Janmashtami. The two performed a dozen songs among which the Malayalam duet, ‘Pookal Panineer Pookal’ , and the concluding Hindi song, ‘Janam Janam Se’ , originally sung by K J Yesudas, drew big applause from the audience.
The ‘Arts and Medicine’ programme, which hit its 132nd edition this week, recreates the bygone eras of music on a stage intended to provide healing through music for the patients.
“Piecing together a collection of songs which holds the attention of the crowd is a happy task and rendering them on stage is yet another enjoyable exercise,” said Binu.
“This concept of music therapy is based on the idea that music is a universal form of communication that everyone can relate to, regardless of their backgrounds or circumstances. The initiative taken by Biennale is something all can relate to,” he added.
Hailing from Cherthala, the full time professional vocalist is an alumnus of Calicut University. He has sung for Cochin Harisree and Kalabhavan. The trained classical musician has directed music for the movie, ‘Uthara Chemeen’.
Binu was accompanied by Nikitha, a Hindustani music student and sitar enthusiast. The winner and finalist of various television shows, Nikitha performs for the music band ‘Bakery Junction’.
The show is organized by Kochi Biennale Foundation in association with the Lakeshore Hospital and Research Centre Limited and Mehboob Memorial Orchestra to provide solace to the sick through music.