![\"Brillante](\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/theme\/images\/th-online\/1x1_spacer.png\" "\\"Brillante")
<\/picture><\/div>\nNo art form is replete without opposing genres coming together to produce a contrasting, but grand effect, bridging any differences artistes may have beyond their love for art. At the recently concluded Brillante Piano Festival, Bengaluru saw pianists from all over the world come together to present classical, jazz, pop and other musical genres.<\/p>\n
Tazim Sheikh, winner of the Brillante Piano Festival 2021 prize in the jazz category, expressed the importance of learning a musical instrument. \u201cLearning a musical instrument is essential for a young child as it can help one regulate emotions; an instrument also has the potential to build motor skills by increasing hand-eye coordination. Besides all this, the healing powers of music are well known,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
At the festival this year, Tazim played \u2018Dwam,\u2019 the title track of his album DWAM<\/i>, and \u2018Ether\u2019 \u2014 both an unique amalgamation of Indo-classical and jazz music. <\/p>\n \n Tazim Sheikh <\/div>\n The Brillante Piano Festival is perhaps the only piano festival held in India, that not only invites experts from across the world, but also child prodigies. Mantra Upadhyay, a 12-year-old pianist from Gujarat, was the winner of the classical category and runner up in the jazz category this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI love that the Brillante Piano Festival is open to all cultures, and multiple genres of music. Additionally, there were choir and string quartet performances too this year,\u201d says Shantanu Patel, winner of the Brillante Piano Festival 2019 prize in the classical category. Shantanu was also on the jury panel this year and performed Beethoven\u2019s Les Adieux<\/i> and Claude Debussy\u2019s Pour le Piano<\/i> for his audience. <\/p>\n \n Shantanu Patel <\/div>\n The festival welcomes almost as many genres of piano music as there are world cultures. Talking about his specific genre, Tazim explained, \u201cYou need to listen to a lot of jazz to truly understand it, especially since it\u2019s not in our blood. The whole philosophy and an understanding of jazz will not come unless one has been in the culture of repression that it is born out of. However, if you delve into the music and listen to it long enough, you can start learning jazz, even though the sound of it is complicated and layered.\u201d<\/p>\n Jazz is an incredibly improvisational genre. \u201cThe best part about jazz is that you never know what is going to happen next,\u201d added Pradyumna Singh Manot, one of India\u2019s jazz maestros and a juror at the festival. \u201cIt\u2019s like a blind date with fate,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n According to Shantanu, even though the average Indian does not relate to classical music \u201cas much as it does to Bollywood numbers,\u201d it can be enormously beneficial for those dealing with mental health issues. \u201cI have performed with autistic children in the audience and seen them become visibly calmer,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe classical music reduces negativity and anxiety. I believe there are certain types of music that have frequencies which release hormones that are calming to the ear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The piano is not originally an Indian instrument, but has captured the hearts of many here. \u201cThe piano is a versatile instrument and covers a wide range of frequencies audible to the human ear,\u201d says Tazim.<\/p>\n \n Brillante Piao Festival 2024 <\/div>\n \u201cI started composing even before I learnt to play the piano. When you can use all 10 of your fingers to play an instrument, you can play 10 different notes at the same time, and that gives you the opportunity to layer your music to an extent where you can sound like an orchestra just by playing a piano.\u201d he adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPlaying the piano takes me to a state of flow, where I forget the rest of the world,\u201d says Shantanu, adding, \u201cThe piano is a symbol of grandeur that has a magnetic effect on people. It has an energy that attracts people, in addition to being the easiest instrument to produce sound from.\u201d <\/p>\n The evening ended with a performance by sibling duo Lydian Nadhaswaram and Amirthavarshini, where 19-year-old Lydian played the piano while his sister played the flute and sang along.<\/p>\n![\"Tazim](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/incoming\/u2pwid\/article68770049.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/Tazim%20Sheikh.jpg\" "\\"Tazim")
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