At Cusp's interdisciplinary festival, performances and discussions about art that engage audiences, go beyond convention

In keeping with the idea of doing away with the glitz and glamour of a large-scale music fest, Cusp will be held in intimate settings housing smaller audiences in the terrace, patio and garden of Luz House at Mylapore in Chennai. Cusp, an immersive three-day interdisciplinary arts festival curated by First Edition arts and a group of musician-curators, is set to begin on 31 January, 2020 bringing together a vibrant community of artists engaged in the Hindustani and Carnatic art forms. By uninitiated audiences I mean to include the likes of myself, because this is not just a music festival, it’s an art festival, comprised of various aspects such as photography, visual arts, drama, theatre, dance.” Curated by three Hindustani and two Carnatic artists, Cusp will also feature film screenings and art exhibitions. This well-known khayal performer says that there are multiple questions that need to be addressed while discussing Hindustani music’s teaching-learning models such as “looking at pedagogy and performance in an integrated manner; exploring different methodologies of teaching and learning music; appreciating the diverse ways in which music forms can be presented even within genres and acknowledging stylistic diversity.” Initiating a dialogue on yet another important issue on Day 2 — of gender and expression — is one of Cusp’s curators Priya Purushothaman, with Hindustani vocalist and transgender activist Rumi Harish. Some of the must-attend gatherings according to Manickavasakan are: the sublime music of the Veena Dhanammal bani by Rama Ravi and Nandita Ravi, the amazing energy in Ashwath Narayanan’s concert, the intriguing musical combination of violin-nadasvaram-tavil-mridangam in the Carnatic Quartet, the conversation between Hindustani and Carnatic music in the sarod and veena performance, impromptu performances at the open mic session, the meditative melodious music by Shruti Sagar and team and of course her session – a unique coming together of two beautiful art forms, Villupaatu and Carnatic music.