Sourendro-Soumyojit to perform at the British Museum in London

Musicians Sourendro and Soumyojit are set to perform at the British

Museum

in

London

to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The artistes, who will kickstart their UK and US tour on September 18, will perform at the Indian gallery of the British Museum.

It all started when the director of British Museum,

Hartwig Fischer

, visited Kolkata earlier this year. “He heard us during a performance. He also visited our music room. We spent an evening talking to her about our history, music, culture and literature. The idea of this performance incepted from there,” Soumyajit shared.

It will be an hour-long soiree at the museum where they will present tracks like Vaishnava Jana To and Raghupati Raghava — two of Gandhiji’s favourite songs. “I think we will be the first to present Rabindrasangeet at the British Museum. We will perform Ananda Dhwani Jagao — a song that Tagore led the students of Santiniketan to perform while Gandhiji was visiting there. We will conclude our performance with Jana Gana Mana. I think this will be the first time that the national anthem of India will be performed at the museum. We will also perform Kabir’s songs. The idea is to pay tribute to Gandhiji with a strong message of peace. Hence, the decision to sing songs that talk about communal harmony,” Soumyojit said.

The performance at the British Museum will be their last show in the UK before they fly off to the US. They will also perform at the Hampstead Town Hall, Liverpool and

Mottingham

. “It's different high to perform there at the Town Hall. Tagore had once read out poems from Geetanjali there. We also plan to visit the Lake District before we leave the UK,” Soumyojit signed off.