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“A fantastic Festival!” according to Jessica Duchen and dubbed "the enterprising Ealing Autumn Festival" by Norman Lebrecht, the Festival is proud to welcome opera singer, Anando Mukerjee, for the main event on Sunday 14th October 3pm at Ealing Town Hall.

Virendra Sharma also supports the work of this Festival:
"I have been delighted to find out about the innovative work that the Ealing Autumn Festival has been doing amongst the Borough’s diverse communities. It connects high quality artistic and cultural events with local participation. It promises to be very enjoyable, and should bring stimulus and opportunities to local businesses and residents alike. I urge everyone to support the Ealing Autumn Festival in every way they can.

Accompanied by his pianist, Pavel Timofejevsky, Anando will sing an unique programme of songs, ?RYA. Each song, written by a Western composer, was inspired by Indian culture. Highlights of the programme will be settings of Hymns of the Rig Veda, 9 songs by English composer, Holst, and Sakuntala by Delius. The programme also includes poetry by Rabindranath Tagore as set by English composer, Bridge, and Italian composer, Alfano.

Anando, previewing the concert at a recent Coffee Morning hosted by Virendra Sharma MP, said:
“Most people do not realize that musicians in the West have been influenced and inspired by the culture of the Indian sub-continent for hundreds of years and as well as the concert, the Festival is launching a Heritage Project Jewels in the Crown to explore this in more depth. All local residents are invited to participate in this project which I am also supporting.

“With both a concert and a heritage project, The Ealing Autumn Festival is providing a wonderful opportunity for the community to experience the rich results of a long East-West fascination, which I feel privileged to be part of.”

To prove the point, Anando then sang a song by 17th century Italian composer, Alessandro Scarlatti, inspired by sunrise over the Ganges. All present demonstrated their huge delight at this surprise performance with a spontaneous round of warm and enthusiastic applause.

Supporting Anando on October 14th, Gillian Spragg, artistic director of the Festival, will play piano music by Delius, Holst and Elgar and Alan Brett will give an illustrated talk Delius: A Cosmopolitan “Englishman”. There will also be an all-day exhibition about Delius, a biopic Discovering Delius at 1.30pm and The Ultimate Delius Concert, archive film of choral and orchestral music, at 7.30pm.

The Ealing Autumn Festival is celebrating the 150th anniversary of Delius’s birth.
Full details of all events and tickets: www.ealingautumnfestival.co.uk.
Enquiries, including Heritage Projects: info@ealingautumnfestival.co.uk or phone: 020 8567 7623.