Berklee Indian Ensemble ft. Armeen Musa - Jaago Piya

We are delighted to release "Jaago Piya" on the auspicious occasion of Bangla Noboborsha, the first day of the Bengali Calendar year 1423. Shubhô Nôbobôrsho from all of us at Berklee College of Music!

The first in a series of original compositions from the Berklee Indian Ensemble, "Jaago Piya" was written by Armeen Musa, the first Bangladeshi student to join the Berklee Indian Ensemble. Her mother, Dr. Nashid Kamal wrote the Bengali lyrics which can be found here: http://bit.ly/1OX8AFv

Over the years, every time the Indian Ensemble performed this piece, the arrangement evolved, with new ideas contributed by different members, until we finally recorded it with students from 17 countries. To us, "Jaago Piya" is a gentle, loving reminder to stay present, in the moment, to always be hopeful, and live a life filled with gratitude.

According to Armeen, "What inspires me is music. The ability of music to connect to our silent thoughts, be a gift of solidarity, in happiness and sadness, inspires and motivates me, to be a part of motions bigger than myself."

What inspires you?

A little cultural background:
Jaago Piya is a collaboration of soundscapes; the melody has a semi classical flavour (classical referring to the classical music of the Indian subcontinent,) with vocal harmony that is rarely used in such a tune. The song being in Bangla, inspired the ensemble to use Bengali colours and clothes for the visual to showcase a bit of Bengali culture.

The primary theme was using the gamcha (local checked cloth used as a towel) as clothing, scarves, hairpieces inspired by Bangladeshi fashion designer Bibi Russel, who brought the gamcha to the international fashion industry.

Bengali New Year is a grandly celebrated day of the year in both Bangladesh and West Bengal, a truly colorful occasion, with parades, daylong musical concerts and festivals held in every corner of the country and in homes. The video hopes to capture that beautiful spirit with its own diversity and colours.

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Founded in 2011 by faculty member, Annette Philip, the Berklee Indian Ensemble is one of largest and most diverse ensembles at Berklee. The ensemble performs a wide array of South Asian music, with the ultimate goal of presenting concerts that consist entirely of original student compositions.

Armeen Musa:
http://armeenmusa.com/
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Indian Ensemble:
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http://www.berklee.edu/india

Berklee:
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Composer: Armeen Musa
Lyrics: Dr. Nashid Kamal
Vocal arranger, Producer, Director of Berklee Indian Ensemble: Annette Philip
Arrangement: Berklee Indian Ensemble

Soloist:
Armeen Musa, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Choir:
Trinayan Baruah, New Delhi, India
Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, New Delhi, India
Ava Dudani, Brighton, MA
Dhruv Goel, Lucknow, India
Vasundhara Gupta, Kolkata, India
Harshitha Krishnan, Chennai, India
Katyayani Krishnan, Singapore
Malwina Masternak, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Poland
Sanjana Raja, Chennai, India
Thara Dhishay Ramamurthy, Manama, Bahrain
Lydia Renold, Schönenwerd, Switzerland
Purvaa Sampath, Bangalore, India
Ashwin Shenoy, Manama, Bahrain
Lyusi Simon, Moscow, Russia
Pankhuri Singhal, Westford, MA
Ishita Sinha, Patna, India
Swarathmika Swaminathan, Mumbai, India
Sanchitha Wickremesooriya, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Gretchen Schaderbodt, Valdivia, Chile
Kanika Patawari, Antwerp, Belgium
MT Aditya Srinivasan: Chennai, India
Rishabh Dev Sharma: New Delhi, India

Rhythm Section
Srishti Biyani: Bansuri/Voice, New Delhi, India
Sashank Navaladi: Sarod, New Delhi, India
Layth Sidiq: Violin, Amman, Jordan
Aleif Hamdan: Guitar, Jakarta, Indonesia
Anton A. Sten: Guitar, Stockholm, Sweden
Johnathan Lee: Guitar, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Annette Philip: Piano/Voice, Kerala, India
Achal Murthy: Electric Bass, Strassen, Luxembourg
Kaushlesh Purohit: Tabla/Percussion, Jodhpur, India
Yogev Gabay: Drum set, Be'er Sheva, Israel

Recorded live at Q Division, Somerville
Recording engineer: Matt Larson
Assistant engineer: Jake Furgason
Mixing Engineer: Simon Katz

Video by 4Reel Productions
Producer, editor: Teo Karakolev
Videographer: Kevin Greene
Production assistants: Dina Benech, Eric Notar

Mastered by M Works Studios
Engineer: Jonathan Wyner

Head Card Designer: Lydia Renold

Typography
Achal Murthy, Armeen Musa, Annette Philip, Purvaa Sampath, Harshitha Krishnan, Swarathmika Swaminathan, Vasundhara Gupta, Ava Dudani, Kanika Patawari, Katyayani Krishnan, Lyusi Simon, Pankhuri Singhal, Thara Dhishay Ramamurthy, Yogev Gabay

Special thanks to:
Sadia Rahman for the gamchas
Mohitosh Talukder Taposh for all your gifts
Bibi Russel for inspiring our outfits. #berklee #berkleecollegeofmusic