A concert of a lifetime: 12 year old Nilanjanaa to perform in the Big Apple

She is not a teenage yet, but is ready to enthral New York with her voice. Bengaluru kid Nilanjanaa Jayant will be performing at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York, a dream come true for any musician. And what's more, she will be joining legendary musicians like Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Ustad Zakir Hussain on the stage. The event will take place later this year in October.

The honour follows her victory at the Golden Voices of America competition. A video of her rendition of Frank Sinatra's popular jazz number Fly me to the Moon created such a major impression that she was announced as the  winner in the Musical Theater/Disney/Broadway/Jazz category. Nilanjanaa will be performing the same song live at Carnegie Hall.

According to her mother, Sangeeta Ananth, Nilanjanaa had a talent for singing since a very young age, and to encourage her they enrolled her in Carnatic music classes when she was just 6 years old. Thereafter, she joined Bengaluru based music school Taaqademy, founded by musicians Rajeev Rajagopal and Bruce Lee Mani.

This is Taaqademy’s official proud statement on Facebook:

Taaqademy’s official statement (Picture Credit: Facebook)

"It was so much more fun learning music at Taaqademy. They encourage you to do what you want to rather than what you are expected to do," said the young singer, reported by TOI.

Nilanjanaa’s teacher Ragini Ramanathan is also getting a certificate of recognition from the Golden Voices of America for having trained her. 25 year old Ragini praised Nilanjanaa for being so determined and hardworking, and she admires Nilanjanaa’s ‘don’t give up’ attitude.

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Golden Voices of America is an international competition, open to all countries for vocalists of different age groups. It was first staged in 2009 under the American Fine Arts Festival. Vocalists get to compete on this global platform and the winners get to perform at the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall and at Bruno Walter Auditorium in Lincoln Center. For Nilanjanaa, the journey from Bengaluru to New York will be an unforgettable one, with memories for a lifetime not doubt! What she will be hoping for of course will be a standing ovation.

Feature Image Credit: tanyamunshi.com