KATHMANDU, Oct 26: The Gharana Music Festival is back with a set of power pact performances by artists around the world. Gharana Music Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding the scope of classical music and music education in Nepal, has geared up with its acclaimed artists to throb the heartbeats of Nepali audience through rejuvenating numbers from Wednesday.

Cellist Laura Metcalf and Rupert Boyd, who together make the ‘Boyd Meets Girl’ duo is back in Nepal for the third Annual Gharana Music Festival. They launched the festival with a free concert in front of the iconic Janaki Temple in Janakpur on Wednesday in collaboration with Kutumba and Minap Ensemble. 

“We have been able to bring some top international classical musicians to Nepal since our very first festival in 2015. And that has helped to lay a strong foundation for our non-profit organization to making western classical music more accessible in Nepal,” said Daniel Linden, founder and president of Gharana Music Foundation, explained. 

“We felt it was important to take the festival out of Kathmandu, so this year we launched the event in Janakpur, one of the cultural hubs in Nepal,” said Kashish Das Shrestha, co-founder and board member of Gharana Music Foundation. 

“We loved our time in Kathmandu last year, performing for wonderful audiences, getting to work with enthusiastic students, and being able to share and exchange cultural ideas with the other musicians at the festival,” the duo expressed. 

Apart from the festival and the free classes during the festival, Gharana Music Foundation also launched a regular classical guitar program for the children at Early Childhood Development Center established by CNN Superhero Pushpa Basnet. The program was conceived in December 2015 and launched in 2016 and has continued ever since. 

With many more international and local artists performing at multiple venues, the festival aims at uniting people through music.  

The duo has shared about their musical journey and their second collaboration with the Gharana Festival.

A brief introduction about ‘Boyd Meets Girl’. 
We grew up on opposite sides of the world, but formed the ensemble ‘Boyd Meets Girl’ in 2013. Both of us moved from our Australia and Connecticut to New York in 2004. In the past four years, we have performed in concerts throughout the world, including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, India and Nepal. Our debut album which was released in 2017 reached the number three spot on the Billboard Charts for Traditional Classical Music receiving many favorable reviews.

What is music for both of you? 
When music occupies such a large part of our waking moments, whether it be performing, practicing, rehearsing or teaching, it’s so tough to ever envisage a life that didn’t revolve around music. Music is our profession, but it’s moreover our passion, our lifestyle, and we couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

What is the inspiration for your music? 
We feel fortunate to be able to experience live music during our travels around the world, and we gather great inspiration from our each visit. Particularly, we both revere the works of JS Bach, and are huge fans of The Beatles and Radiohead. Moreover, Jimi Hendrix and the British cellist Jacqueline Du Pre has been our great inspiration. 

What is the role of music in your lives?
Music has changed our lives in probably more ways that we can know, but from our perspective, it has always been a way for us to express ourselves, a reason to travel the world and see interesting places and meet diverse people. In a profound way, music is what led Rupert to relocate from Australia to New York, and music is what made our initial connection and helped us find each other to eventually get married.

What is your expectation from the festival? 
This will be our second time performing as a duo at the Gharana Music Festival, and the third time for Rupert. We had a beautiful time in Kathmandu last year, performing for wonderful audiences, getting to work with enthusiastic students, and being able to share and exchange cultural ideas with the other musicians at the festival. We hope that everyone can enjoy the music, and be brought together to share an experience that is beautiful and uplifting.

What are your plans regarding your performance?
We will be presenting exciting and varied performances of some of our favorite classical music compositions. From Faure’s Pavane, one of the most serene works ever written, to a set of fiery, flamenco songs by Manuel de Falla, to four short, playful pieces by one of the greatest classical music minds, J.S. Bach.

The combination of cello and guitar allows for a wide range of emotions and character, and as such a wide range of repertoire. We may even include our own take on Michael Jackson’s hit ‘Human Nature’.

Tell us more about your music style?
Everything we play fits into the category of Classical Music, but extends from the Baroque period through modern day. We play works by composers from all around the world, and in this particular program, we will feature music from South America, Europe and the United States.

Cello and guitar is a combination that does not have a huge amount of pre-existing repertoire, but our combination of instruments allows us to create arrangements of many works, so while the melodies of some of the pieces we play may sound familiar to our audiences, it is unlikely that they will ever have heard it performed on cello and guitar before.

The festival will continue till November 4.