Kathmandu

It was not about books, class room, desk... for the students who visited Alliance Française de Katmandu in Tripureshwor on November 5. Their morning began with music, and entertainment. As performances by Kathmandu Music Room Percussion Ensemble, Katamon Cherry, Leni Stern, Cadenza Collective, Julie Saury Trio, and Yaite Ramos rolled on the stage one after another, they experienced and listened to varied jazz music from all over the world. From African to Cuban grooves, Nepali jazz to Jerusalem jazz, the ‘Concert for School Children’ catered a whole lot of qualitative music to the young audience.

Of course, this was possible only because of Surya Nepal Jazzmandu 2015. The festival enters its second day with ‘Concert for School Children’.

‘Concert for School Children’ began on 2014 for young school students to experience music from around the world and interact with the visiting musicians.

Forty students (boys) from Child Protections Centers and Services (CPCS) made it to the concert. Sanker Lama, 15 and Suman Pariyar, 15 were among them. “We enjoyed the entire performance,” they shared about the concert after it concluded. Adding more on this Pairyar said, “Different kinds of music of different countries were performed on stage and we got to listen to those varied music. I liked the concert as we could feel the music.”

Students of Alok Vidyashram, Gaushala were also among the audience. For Ashmit Bikram Shah, 15, the concert was more than enjoyment. “We met musicians and that felt really good,” he mentioned. When it comes to music, Shah who listens to soft metal music found jazz “unique and cool”.

Amidst all this it was more than music for Haushala Thapa, Founder of Children and Youth First (CYF). She brought her children to watch the concert as, “We feel children connect to music and if we expose them to music at a young age, they will have bigger horizon.”

The second day of the festival was a busy day as two other events on the same day — Jazzmandu Vocal & Rhythm Workshop and Groovin at Upstairs took place in the afternoon and evening respectively.

Surya Nepal Jazzmandu 2015 started on November 4 and it will conclude on November 10. And it will be Valley Jams on November 6 where four different bands and artistes will play at different venues.

Jazzmandu is one of a kind experience. With fuel crisis however when you begin to feel sceptic Carpool Jazzmandu comes to rescue. For more information, go to Carpool Kathmandu on Facebook.

The Himalayan Times is the official print media partner of the event.