NCPA to celebrate 50 years with multi-genre festival

The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) will celebrate its 50th year with multi-genre performances across genres like theatre, dance, music, stand-up acts and much more at the 'NCPA Add Art Festival'. The festival, starting from November 29, will celebrate the five decades of NCPA working towards preserving and promoting India's rich and vibrant artistic heritage, the organisers said.

From performances by a world class orchestra, jazz virtuoso, legends of Indian music and dance, theatre celebrities - to art installations and food gardens, the four-day festival will representing the NCPA's larger philosophy of "adding art in daily lives". "It has been a long and exciting journey for everyone who has been associated with us. The 50th year milestone will serve as a direction for us to grow and be an integral part of the cultural life of not only Mumbai, but the whole nation.

"With our constant endeavor to project only the best performances across the country and internationally, NCPA is truly becoming a beacon of culture," Khushroo N Suntook, Chairman NCPA said. The opening day will see an exhilarating performance by the Symphony Orchestra of India led by music director Marat Bisengaliev and associate music director Zane Dalal.

The concert will also feature joint choirs from around the country and also include popular choral classics, waltzes by Johann Strauss-where the Orchestra will be joined by dancers from Kazakh State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet. One the second day, artistes like classical dancer Mallika Sarabhai, Kathak virtuoso Astad Deboo, stand-up comedian Zakir Khan and singer Amit Tandon will present their acts.

The highlight of the day will be the India premiere of the Grammy award winner Arturo Sandoval. Apart from performances by the students of NCPA, the event on November 30 will host jam session by Arturo Sandoval featuring musicians from across the country, and a reading performance in Marathi among others.

The day will also showcase a unique act by Igudesman & Joo called "A little Nightmare Music" combining comedy with music. The final day of the festival will showcase a one-of-a-kind event "Morn to Dusk" - featuring performances by the legends of Indian music and dance like Rashid Khan, Zakir Hussain, Aditi Mangaldas, Malavika Sarukkai, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Birju Maharaj, Ajoy Chakrabarty and many more.

The festival will conclude with theatre director Roysten Abel's "The Manganiyar Seduction", an internationally acclaimed audio-visual spectacle which brings together nearly 40 talented Manganiyar musicians, both vocalists and instrumentalists, in a truly magical setting.

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