Don't like music concerts? Attend this unique intimate music performance in Lower Parel

(From left) Alpesh Moharir and Aniket Gundewar in performance

Coldplay. Ed Sheeran. Dua Lipa. Mumbai is now a preferred venue for touring music icons. Yet, the city offers an equal opportunity to musicians looking to explore an alternative avenue. The new music initiative, Umbaaro, will host one such experience, Baithak: A classical soirée, that highlights the intimacy of music this weekend at Lower Parel. Guitarist Aniket Gundewar reveals, "Indian classical music is generally an intimate performance art. It is important to understand that the idea of large concerts for classical music is fairly new. A smaller space is more appropriate for this form."

A student of Pandit Atulkumar Upadhye, Gundewar's use of the electrical guitar as an instrument for Hindustani classical ragas stands out. He describes the style as one that combines the ‘gayaki ang' and tantkari tantra techniques. "Even as a performer, playing near the audience is a welcome change. Often, we can hardly read the expressions or the reaction of the people who listen," he shares.

Shanaya Shah and Shivangi Buch

Gundewar and tabla maestro Alpesh Moharir have shaped the concert to suit a certain flair and tempo of ragas and rhythms. The key is to be playful, fun but intricate in performance, he points out. "I plan to begin the concert with an alaap on the guitar, before slowly segueing into a faster tempo. Alpesh (Moharir) will join me in a jugalbandi of taals, before we finish on a fast tihai," the guitarist reveals.

Umbaaro, co-founded by Shivangi Buch and Shanaya Shah gets its name from the Gujarati term for threshold. The choice of a design and artisan furniture store for the concert was intentional. Buch, an architect by profession, admits that she had always been on the lookout for musical experiences that utilised spaces as part of the experience. "I wanted to start something where music is more than just a sound-based experience, where the space also matters." For Shah, the idea appealed to her artistic sensibilities. "For us, the venue offers a chance for the artistes to perform amidst hand-crafted looms and furniture, while the artisans are present and working. It adds another layer to the experience, for the musicians as well as the audience," says Shah.

Going forward, the founders will seek out spaces that blend art and heritage, while returning to musical roots. "It is an effort towards cultural revival and a move away from the big concert fervour that is taking over everything," says Shah. The performance on Sunday will be the first step in that direction.

ON January 12; 4.30 pm to 6 pm
AT Zeba Design Center, Mathuradas Mill Compound, Lower Parel.
LOG ON TO@umbaaro on Instagram (to register)
CALL 9930586325
ENTRY Rs 1,200