Fusion Music By Devan Drone Group

The Chowmahalla Palace Board is organising a five-day music and dance festival from 29th October to 2nd November, at the Chowmahalla Palace. The five- day festival, called the Chowmahalla Mubarak - A Celebration Of Living Heritage, will feature several eminent musicians and dancers, including Dr. Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna, Vikku Vinayakram, Ajay Chakraborthy, Hariharan, Shallu Jindal, the Devan Drone Group, and students of Vipanchee Natayalaya.

On 31st October, the third day of the festival, the second event will witness the Devan Drone Group performing a fusion music recital. The orchestra comprises of musicians Vasudevan on the violin, Dronendra Phani Kumar on the flute, Kalyana Raman on the mridangam, Surabhi Phani Bhushan on the ghatam / kanjira, Pavan on the rhythm pads and Arun Balakrishna on the guitar. The group will play Carnatic music with a Western touch, then blend Hindustani with Irish Music, and so on.

Devan Drone was started in 2005 by 2 young musicians of Andhra Pradesh. The name Devan Drone is derived from the names of the violinist, Vasudevan, and the flautist, Dronendra Phanikumar, the men behind the formation of this group, who are both disciples of Annavarapu Ramaswamy. Devan Drone is a young group, with all its musicians between the ages of 25-35 years.

Vasudevan is a cultural advisor in the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at Hyderabad. In a short period of just one year, the group has given performances in Guntur, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Agra, and at various venues in Hyderabad including IIIT, Cyber Pearl at Madhapur, Shilparamam, ITC Bhadrachalam and the Secunderabad Club.

The group is also involved in projects like Gurukulam, in which they teach music to various aspirants with no age bar, and also conducts research in Evening Ragas, Applied Music Therapy, Sabarmati Sangeeth and Music Appreciation.

Entry is by passes that are available at the venue for free. Please contact Vasudevan at 98498-74574 for further details.