Concert at the Budhanilkantha School in Katmandu

My first, and my foremost Jew’s harp student at the Nepal Music Centre, Sangeet Kumar Mandal, organized a concert at his school for Merethe, the vocal teacher at the NMC, and me. We composed a program where we presented Norwegian traditional folk music, ballads, and psalms. Also, I demonstrated Jew’s harps from various parts of Asia, as well as some Norwegian munnharpe tunes from the Setesdal region. We were picked up by the school’s jeep, and made our way through traffic jams and bumpy roads, all the way up to the school at the foot of the Sivapuri hills. We were delayed by the traffic, and arrived some time after the concert should have started – some 900 students sat fully packed in the assembly hall, eagerly waiting for the two Norwegian artists to arrive! No time for sound check and final rehearsal! During our performance, the students expressed their surprise loudly and applauded. Afterwards, we learnt that they never before had heard such sounds of the metal and bamboo Jew’s harps, and they were deeply touched by the songs and the improvisations that Merethe gave them. Together with my student, who is also an excellent table player, we had prepared a few musical meetings between Norwegian and Nepali tunes, like the Manchare tune on the “Meeting in the Mountains” CD. As the final, we played the most popular Nepali song: “Resham Phiriri”, and soon, the whole audience sang the song together with my Jew’s harp and Sangeet’s tablas!
After the concert, both the principal and one of the vice principals delivered speeches of gratitude to us, and we were invited to a light meal together with the staff. On our way through the entrance hall, we were greeted by a number of students, expressing their gratitude and their admiration. Some also wished to have our autographs! We were so pleased with our first school concert in Katmandu, looking forward to more presentations of Norwegian music on later occasions . . .
Svein