'Rang Dhvani - The Real Sound of Colours'
Sunday, 30th April 2023
Few Comments from Audiences
'Superb - Very professional and worthy of presenting anywhere, in any forum, whether here or abroad.'
'The singing and the dance sequences were extremely well coordinated and beautifully rendered. Above all, Rakesh Joshi`s lead and direction, together with his many compositions, provided a seamless focus and continuity.'
'I was totally mesmerised . Spectacular!'
London Borough of Culture - Oratorio of Hope
The Indian dancers and singers of Subrang Arts performed with silky grace
By Richard Morrison (The Times)
Fairfield Halls, Croydon
★★★★☆
You would think that hope was in short supply in Croydon right now, what with the local council being all but bankrupt and scandal swirling round some of its horrendously costly past misdeeds. Despite all that, however, the place has been selected as this year’s London Borough of Culture — and this opening event (with the Fairfield Halls reasonably full for once) was rather good. I couldn’t have been the only person to be pleasantly shocked.
Its title, Oratorio of Hope, suggested something rather worthy and old-fashioned. In fact it was a buoyant and ingeniously constructed showcase. Each of its eight movements focused on a different facet of Croydon’s multicultural life, with a big accent on youth. Such a format could have been a recipe for an incoherent and rambling medley, but four things unified it into a compelling whole.
The first was the presence throughout of Croydon’s resident professional orchestra, the London Mozart Players. They played with admirable verve under the conductor Jonathan Bloxham, whether merging elegantly into classical Indian modes or, in a roof-raising finale, supporting hundreds of young instrumentalists and singers drawn from Croydon schools.
The second strength was the joyous music, which was a series of team-written variations (coordinated by the composers Fiona Brice, Sarah Freestone and Jeff Moore) on an exuberant, pulsing opening theme composed by Tarik O’Regan, who grew up in Croydon. In the same way, each text for the oratorio’s sung movements drew on a rosy word-portrait of the borough written by “Croydon’s poet laureate”, Shaniqua Benjamin.
Then there was the slickness of the presentation (directed by Thomas Guthrie), with platform readjustments executed seamlessly and the music punctuated by short, punchy films introducing the participants and their very different creative worlds.
Then there was the slickness of the presentation (directed by Thomas Guthrie), with platform readjustments executed seamlessly and the music punctuated by short, punchy films introducing the participants and their very different creative worlds.
Subrang Arts is a Registered Charity, a Not for Profit
voluntary organisation dedicated to the promotion and
development of Asian Art and Culture. ‘Subrang’ means
spectrum of colour and it represents the rich cultural
heritage of the Indian Sub Continent. One of our
objectives is to foster an appreciation and understanding
of the rich and diverse heritage that originates from the
Sub-Continent, and to help in maintaining its identity in a
multicultural society .
We believe that education and entertainment can be
combined and to achieve this objective, we organise
numerous cultural programmes, exhibitions, heritage
projects, music concerts, talks, lectures and
demonstrations. We actively engage young people in
our activities with a view to develop them holistically.
