The Amazing Little Stars, a group of talented young artists, returned to stage by public demand for their latest concert.
Held in London a fortnight ago, the two-part evening concert attracted an almost house-full audience. What makes this group stand out from any other, anywhere, is the budding artists’ ability to sing any popular Hindi or Gujarati song without the aid of a script. Their confidence, deep passion, pride, energy and enthusiasm deserve rapturous applause. The group choose to keep a low-profile and prefer to focus on enhancing performance. Full credit to them.
During the over four-hour performance, the group entertained the audience with Bollywood songs, ghazals, qawalis, Punjabi songs, bhajans, Gujarati folk and also sang, on demand, the popular Swahili song, Hakuna Matata. During the break, everyone was served an Indian snack, a sweet and tea. There was also a special appearance from multi-talented Bhanubhai Pandya, who shared his popular Gujarati jokes.
The British-born Amazing Little Stars are part of Sangeet Vidya Progression (SVP), a specialist school of Hindustani music, founded in 1986 by ‘Guruji’ Chandravadan Engineer whose teachers were Ustad Kadir Durvesh and Ustad Naeem-u-din Khan Sahib. “I aim to continue this tradition,” said Mr Engineer, who has committed his life to enabling individuals to reach their full potential through his remarkable teachings.
The school currently has 26 students, the youngest aged just seven. It aims to spread the values of Indian culture through music. The group have travelled across the UK and Europe, internationally too. They have appeared on Indian TV channels, as well as on radio.
SVP is a self-funded organisation and relies on revenues earned from performances as well as from donations. One day, it hopes, it can acquire a larger premises, one with classrooms, a shrine and concert hall, to help it continue its vision and mission. To find out more visit www.sangeetvidyaprogression.com
