Celebrate Diwali at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s free Visions of India festival, which is held just before the orchestra’s Delta Classical concert, Celestial Illuminations featuring The Planets, on Thursday and Saturday, Oct. 23 and 25, at the Woodruff Arts Center.
The festival precedes the concerts from 6 to 8 p.m. in the lobby of the Memorial Arts Building, and features henna tattoo artists, Indian food vendors, traditional dancers, music, and more.
Directly after the festival at 8 p.m., the orchestra takes the stage under the direction of guest conductor Vinay Parameswaran, who opens the evening’s celebrations of light with a recent work by Nina Shekhar, Lumina.
Then, Hindustani violinist Kala Ramnath joins the orchestra for her interpretations of Reena Esmail’s Concerto for Hindustani Violin, a genre-bending work of the ancient elements of space, air, water, fire, and earth. Ramnath’s technique, dubbed the “Singing Violin,” derives from a patchwork of sound, including Western Classical, Jazz, Flamenco and traditional African music.
The ASO Chorus Women’s Ensemble joins the Orchestra as the concert comes to an epic finale in Holst’s The Planets—music that influenced rock bands like Led Zeppelin and futuristic cinematic scores.
Tickets for the concert are available at aso.org. The concert is sponsored by Alston & Bird.
