GHARANA MUSIC FESTIVAL
Kathmandu, Nepal - October 8th-11th, 2015
Hotel Yak and Yeti & The City Museum Kathmandu
Six years ago I arrived in Nepal with a nylon string guitar and two duffel bags full of J.S. Bach and John Dowland scores, and way more trekking gear than I needed. I knew embarrassingly little about the country I had chosen to travel to, but I knew the Himalayas were there and I was determined to get to Everest Base camp, and then spend the remainder of my 150 allotted tourist visa days volunteering as a music teacher and travelling. I had just graduated from the Manhattan School of Music with a Bachelor of Music in classical guitar performance and completed what would be my last season working as a whitewater raft guide on the Upper Hudson River Gorge in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. Some of my friends were off to graduate school or the great (and somewhat closer) outdoor life of the Pacific Northwest, but my childhood fascination with the Himalayas got the better of me and in my mind there was no other logical place to go but Nepal.
Six years later, the country of my post-college adventure has become the place where I live with my wonderful wife and where I am about to present a world-class international classical music festival. – the Gharana Music Festival. When asked why people climb Mt. Everest, George Mallory responded, “Because it is there”. The reason I finally decided to start my own nonprofit organization to promote classical music and music education in Nepal, and to organize the Gharana Music Festival, was also quite simple – because it wasn’t there, yet.
The Gharana Music Foundation and the Gharana Music Festival were born to fill what I saw as a void in the already lively music scene in Kathmandu. The festival serves as an opportunity for the Nepali public to experience live classical music and music education as never before. Through a series of concerts and workshops, music enthusiasts and aspiring musicians will have the opportunity to become exposed to a variety of classical music of world-class quality. As such music is not yet regularly available in a live setting in Nepal, and as it has never been presented in such a concentrated way, the festival aims to stimulate interest and set a precedent for the future growth of classical music appreciation and education here.
It is an honor and privilege for me to present such an outstanding group of artists and educators in our inaugural year, including classical guitarists Rupert Boyd, Brendan Evans, Ana Maria Rosado and Paul Cesarczyk, as well as incredible cellist Laura Metcalf and Nepali didgeridoo master Salil Subedi, with whom Nepali classical musicians and I will collaborate. In addition to being amazing musicians, they are all extremely enthusiastic and supportive people who I know personally as old friends, classmates and teachers, as well as a couple new friends.
Despite the devastating earthquakes that shook Nepal this year, and the immense grief and loss, I am grateful for the unwavering determination everyone in this project has shown, and I am personally touched that all the artists are so enthusiastic and dedicated to coming to Nepal to make this happen. In addition to being a wonderful music event, I hope the festival will also serve as a symbol both in Nepal and internationally that the nation is still on its feet, that people can still visit here and that beautiful things are taking place and will continue to take place far into the future.
I hope you will check out our festival and follow us online for updates, and I hope to see some of you here this Fall! Please stop by and say hello if you can make it!
Daniel Linden
Founder and President, Gharana Music Foundation
www.gharanamusicfoundation.org
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gharana-Music-Foundation/386570661515096
