KATHMANDU:

If you’ve heard them sing before, you’d not want to miss a chance this year too. Yes, folks we are talking about Women in Concert (WIC), which is scheduled to be held on September 24 in the gardens of Hotel del’Annapurna.

Describing this unique concert, one of the WIC committee members Rachana Gurung Sharma says, “We are not an exclusive concert that people feel scared to attend. We are more about supporting a noble cause and providing a platform for women to showcase their talent.”

And as Sharma says Women in Concert is different from other concerts because many of those who will be performing are not professional musicians or singers. Many of them are music lovers who enjoy singing. It’s the only stage where you’ll get to see women from various fields get together and join their voices for a cause and for the pure love of music.

There’s Sapna Thapa, a familiar voice on the airwaves along with Rachana Gurung Sharma, who’s been the choreographer for the Miss Nepal pageant since 1994, not to forget Sheri Thapa and Vidhea Shrestha. Along with them you’ll get to hear the sultry Abhaya Subba Weise, Arpana Rayamajhi, Ciney Gurung, Garima, Jessy Rai, Preeti Kaur, Rashmi, Shubu Thapa, Yankey and 12-year-old Sujata Verma who will be singing an aalap based on raag Yaman that welcomes the evening.

Says Sapna Thapa, “This year it is going to be grander and we are expecting more people. It

is going to be different as we have a different line-up of singers.”

And yes WIC is an event that is in support of a noble cause — like last year, this year too WIC is supporting Sewa Kendra Leprosy Relief run by Dr Hira M Pradhan. The Sewa Kendra is a privately funded organised that helps rebuild the lives of those who suffered from leprosy but are now cured.

A short 10-minute documentary on the Sewa Kendra has been prepared showing how the money raised from last year’s WIC was used to aid the Sewa Kendra.

The WIC began in 2002 when a few friends got together and decided to give women a platform to show their talent and at the same time use this platform for a social cause. A concert for a cause that was begun by five women have in the last four years grown to become one of the most awaited for musical events of the Capital.

Their back-up band is none other than the WIC veterans The Cloud Walkers, which is also the house band at The Rox, Hyatt Regency.

What are you waiting for? Get together with these amazing women for an evening of pure music, and more so for a noble cause.

(Tickets Rs 999 inclusive of a buffet dinner available at Hotel del’ Annapurna, Durbar Marg; Moksh, Pulchowk; and Upstairs, Lazimpat) — HNS