New Homes, is a newly-composed, groundbreaking musical work by Hari Sivanesan written for a classical string quartet in the style/structure of a Western quartet whilst adhering to the austere classicism of the Carnatic (South Indian) genre. Featuring the Sarod, (17 stringed plucked lute), Taus (28 stringed, fretted, bowed lute), Veena (6 stringed lute) and Double Bass.
Act two features the premiere of a Carnatic choral work written by eminent singer, teacher and composer Uthra Vijay. The work, which speaks to the Earth and climate change, brings together voice, percussion and instrumentals. They work across the four movements in a unique blend.
The third act is an exciting and unique new multi-artform performance called “The Flowering Tree”, directed by Hari Sivanesan and Priya Srinivasan in collaboration with nine emerging artists. In a screen adaptation of an Indian folktale, the tale offers a myriad of possibilities and metaphors that take on issues like climate change and violence against women through the mediums of spoken word, sound and movement. The Flowering Tree is the culmination of “South Asian Arts Pathways”, a program for exceptional classically-trained artists from Melbourne’s South East region to professionalise and develop new work. Over eight months, they have been mentored by renowned local and international artists including Shreya Devnath, Veena Basavarajaiah and Natesha Somasundaram.
New Homes String Quartet
Sarod: Rahul Bhattacharya, Taus: Bimal Singh, Veena: Hari Sivanesan , Double Bass: Rohan Dasika
Choir:
Uthra Vijay, Subhashini Vaidhyanathan, Swarnalakshmi Sankarmahadevan, Nandini Venkat Subramoney, Manisha Jothin, Akhila Pokkuluri, Swaathi Subramaniam, Janani Ganeshan. With instrumentation by Thabo Mohanakumar,Subramanya Sastry, Hari Sivanesan
South Asian Arts Pathways Directed by Hari Sivanesan and Priya Srinivasan
Arpitha Shastry, Devinya Kugathas, Eashaa Swaminathan, Ishaana Sood, Keshav Ramachandran
Kirshan Sabeshkumar, Maiyuren Srikumar, Shyam Srinivas, Siddarth Murali Manohar
The artists are students of: Ahilan Sivanandan, Bhavani Govindan, Dr. Chandrabhanu OAM, Meena Elankumaran, Murali Kumar, Narmatha Ravichandhira, Late U Srinivas, Uthra Vijay, Yogan Kandasamy