Cadenza - Fostering Musical Unity and Conversation

Cadenza is a National Inter-School Music Performance and Composition Competition started by a group of Grade 12 TISB students, Ashna, Rohan and Sarvesh. The competition hosts six categories of music genres:  Western Classical, Hindustani Classical, Carnatic Classical, Pop, Band and Composition. The first round of Cadenza 2020 is complete, and the final winners have been announced and their entries released on the competition’s website. We got in touch with Rohan to learn more.

We sought to organise an event which would provoke renewed passion for music among students, facilitate dialogue and make connections between musicians across the country – Rohan, Grade 12.

As the first Cadenza has come to an end and the winners have been announced, the team behind the competition reflect on their efforts to foster and the joy for music. Although the 2020 Cadenza was shifted online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a well attended event with over 160 participants from Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. The competition is open to any young musician between ages 12 and 18 years in India. The first round is open to all. The second round is selective and based on themes, including Celebration, Night Music, Cultural Diversity and Social Justice.  However, Cadenza is not only a competition. “Uniquely, we provided feedback to all participants on request, to make the competition a learning experience regardless of qualification”, says Rohan, who is one out of 15 students who organised the event.

Cadenza 2020 is the vision of a small group of students to promote music, particularly in a time when musicians have been hit especially hard. The team seeks to build a student-centric community, with the organisers being senior students and the participants being younger musicians. Most music competitions are organised neither by musicians nor by students. The Cadenza team aspire to set a precedent for future music competitions in India to foster a competitive, yet supportive, environment for young musicians to rediscover their talent. “We have been in touch with many parents and teachers to support these students during their preparation”, explains Rohan.

Rohan feels grateful to have had concert opportunities inside and outside of TISB, as well as dedicated teachers. “We want to give back to the art that has given us so much fulfilment for the past decade, and ensure that young musicians are not denied these opportunities due to a pandemic”, says Rohan who is also grateful for the professional judges who took part in the final round of the competition. Given the success of the event, the team hope Cadenza will become a reoccurring event at TISB. Currently the team are discussing with their juniors to assemble an organising committee for next year. “We are thankful to TISB for their help and support” says Rohan, who’s team received infrastructural support in the form of technical resources from TISB. Based on feedback from participants, the team now wants to introduce separate instrumental, jazz and funk categories in the future events.

To learn more and see the results, visit Cadenza’s website. For the winners in the different categories, visit Cadenza’s YouTube channel.