Nepal tour April 2016
Our tour to Nepal saw us singing dāphā music in a Hindu temple in Bhaktapur, fund-raising for the Kathmandu University Music Department at a concert hosted by the German Ambassador to Nepal, leading workshops at Hindu Vidyapeeth School in Patān and performing at the World Peace Pagoda and a hospital in Pokhara. The success of the tour was due to the help and generousity of a large number of people, to whom we're extremely grateful.
Our tour began with a concert in Teddington in February, where we were introduced to the music and culture of Nepal by Professor Richard Widdess. We performed a piece of dāphā (choral sacred music sung in Hindu temples in Bhaktapur) as well as European sacred music.
The tour proper began with rehearsals in the beautiful grounds of the Summit Hotel in Patan, a suburb of Kathmandu. We also enjoyed exploring Patan and Thamel once we had reminded ourselves of the music. The following day we went to Bhaktapur where we made contact with students and teachers at the music department of Kathmandu University, led by our wonderful guide, Shamsher Nhucen Pradhan, Richard Widdess' research assistant. In the evening we had the great privilege of being made members of the Dattatreya temple and performing the piece of dāphā music Richard Widdess had taught us in Teddington.
The following day we had a fantastically warm welcome at Hindu Vidyapeeth school in Patān, another branch of the school Jo Willmott had volunteered in as a teacher 20 years previously! We had fun leading workshops and performing a joint concert.
After a day of sightseeing in Kathmandu we sang in the German embassy along with students at Kathmandu Music department, raising money to rebuild the buildings on their specialist campus.
The following day we left Kathmandu for Pokhara, where we performed in the mist at the World Peace Pagoda.
After a day of sightseeing round Pokhara we rounded off the tour with workshops at a local primary school and a performance at a local leprosy hospital.
For more details, see our blog.
Our choice of music, mostly sacred music from the 16th to the 21st centuries, was based on the theme of prayer, as Nepal has been in our thoughts and prayers since the devastating earthquake of April 2015. We were also pleased to be repeating a piece commissioned for our 2011 tour to India, out of the mouths of children by Peter Allwood, which is based around the Tagore song Anandaloke.
Performances:
21st February: Pre-tour concert in St Mary with St Alban, Teddington, UK
30th March: Dattatreya Temple, Bhaktapur
31st March 4pm: Hindu Vidyapeeth, Patan
1st April 5pm: Joint concert with students from Kathmandu University Music Department in the German Embassy, Kathmandu
2nd April 5pm: World Peace Pagoa, Pokhara
4th April: Workshop in Pokhara school, concert in Green Pastures Hospital, Pokhara
