Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya on Wednesday, June 23, announced an online fundraiser concert ‘Kala Nidhi’ for artists. The open, free concerts will be held from June 25-27 and will witness performances by top artists from across the country. The musical performances will be streamed in the evenings on the Facebook pages of Surya (facebook.com/surya.tejasvi.ls), renowned singer Vijay Prakash, who helped curate the event (facebook.com/vijayprakashofficial), and ShaaleDotCom (facebook.com/shaaledotcom). The headliner of ‘Kala Nidhi’ is set to be an exclusive performance by one India's leading singers, Sonu Nigam, on June 27. Other artists who will perform in the fundraiser concert include Vijay Prakash, Arjun Janya, Gurukiran, Rajesh Krishnan, Raghu Dixit, Arun Kumar and Anuradha Bhat. Some of the country’s top classical musicians like Vidyabhushana, Puttur Narasimha Nayak and Anoor Anantha Krishna Sharma will also perform during the event.
A fundraiser page has been created on Milaap to facilitate donations. It is accessible on bit.ly/kalanidhi2021. The proceeds from the programme will be directly transferred to over hundred beneficiary artists who are nominated by fellow performance artists. “In difficult times like these, art gives strength to humanity to surmount challenges,” Tejasvi Surya said in a statement. “But the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has hit art and performance artists hard. If art has to thrive, artists have to survive,” he added.
The event is supported by Karnataka's Deputy Chief Minister Dr Ashwath Narayan. “Music offers comfort to our minds during stressful times and it’s well known how adversely the COVID-19 pandemic affected all of us. The event has been organised to liven up the moods through music. We are also hoping to support as many artists as possible with the help of the public,” Narayan said in a statement.
Vijay Prakash, who helped coordinate the line-up of the event expressed his gratitude and said, “Kala Nidhi is a brilliant concept wherein artists perform to draw support for other struggling artists in a platform set up by artists themselves. It is so inspiring to see the country’s most excellent artistes like Sonu Nigam and others take efforts to help Karnataka’s musicians get back on their feet. We are also thankful for the support of Deputy CM Dr Ashwath Narayan and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya.”