HCL Concerts Complete 25 Years, With Indie Acts and Short Films on Dance Also Part of The Focus

HCL Concerts began streaming virtual performances in 2018, well before the pandemic. From a more macro lens, the global conglomerate’s live music series began in 1998. To mark 25 years, they hosted the likes of fusion duo Maati Baani as well as tabla exponent Bickram Ghosh. But where does it go from here?

HCL Corporation’s president of strategy Sundar Mahalingam says they are focusing on different genres and a wider range of artists with the long-running offline and online concert series. Originally conceived as a way of showcasing Indianness amongst being a global company, HCL Concerts still stick to their Indian classical affinities in terms of showcases, but have also been enlisting more indie and fusion acts like Agnee, The Revisit Project and Project Mishram, as part of their sub-series HCL Soundscapes. Mahalingam says supporting Indian classical artists remains a focus even today, but seeing “new forms of music” emerge from the country got them to spotlight artists and bands across the board.

He adds, “When we curate events, we look into aspects such as how well entrenched the genre is in the city’s music scene (for physical events), the artist/band’s popularity, and the format’s (in case of fusion) use and reception in the past. If a certain act fits the bill, we’re more than happy to collaborate. Because we run a number of properties under HCL Concerts, we are able to capture a plethora of genres and music styles into our programming, from maestros such as Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Hariharan, to young names like The Revisit Project and Anirudh Varma Collective.”

To their credit, HCL Concerts report that they have put together over 650 physical concerts since 1998, with a focus on 11 Indian cities at the moment. “These have featured over 2,200 artists and been attended by over 2.5 lakh people. We are humbled by the response we’ve received for our efforts and it constantly fuels us to do much more, in our continuous endeavor to promote Indian music and dance,” Mahalingam says. With their virtual concerts, HCL Concerts have streamed over 125 performances through their YouTube and Facebook, claiming to reach 23 crore people all over the world with a total viewing audience of over 9 crore across 62 countries.

More new cities will see HCL Concerts in India from 2023 onwards, while their streaming properties such as Baithak and Soundscapes continue online. “We plan to launch an exciting dance-based series of short films too. We’re also working on a project on demystifying classical music, making it more accessible to audiences. This will be a large body of content that we will create with leading influencers, tackling the complexities of the genre through a unique and exciting format,” Mahalingam adds.

They’re also about to collaborate with long-standing Indian classical music festivals such as Swami Haridas Tansen Sangeet Nritya Mahotsav in January, plus The Music Academy’s Annual Conference and Concerts in Chennai in December.