April 22 rehearsal kick-off

We just kicked off the official rehearsal season for the Amra Kojon April 22 concert. Amra Kojon will be proudly presenting 20 of their best solo artists from the New England area, and ATN Bangla will broadcast the show live, worldwide. This is in preparation for our 'AKotRo - London 2006' project. If you don't already know about it, here's the relevant link: http://www.amrakojon.org/April2206Show/april2206show.html

Last night, Sujan bhai and Dina apu drove up to Providence from Albany, and Taposhda picked me up from Somerville on his way back from another cultural show in Cambridge. We all congregated at Shaptaak House (or AK headquarters, or alternatively, all of our second home!) and excitedly began discussing our rehearsal strategies, how best to produce the show, and caught up with each other's lives in general.

No AK gathering is ever really complete without the feast that Nitadi arranges for. So even though most of us had already had a round of dinner, we all sat down at the family dinner table around 1am! Tuhin bhai came downstairs from his apartment to join us.

Right after dinner began the real *work*. Elo Melo Sound's equipment had arrived from NY under the able guidance of our musical director, Sujan Bin Wadud, aka Cool Dude. Seriously, the 32 channel mixer just upped his coolness factor a few notches in my book, for sure!

We unloaded the car, and set up the equipment in the music room - and now it's up to par with any professional recording studio. Even better perhaps. I had to whirl around in excitement, snapping pictures of the cool machines that sport blinky lights, and just being excited in general. They worked until 5am in the morning with the setup, but I had gone to sleep long before that.

And now they are rehearsing. I've managed exclusive managerial rights to the kitchen, which has made me rather a happy soul. The excitement, the energy, the electric tension in the rehearsal room - it's back again!

-naina
on behalf of Amra Kojon

ps: if you don't already have tickets to the April 22 show, please do get yours quickly. There's limited seating, and we're selling out pretty fast. Remember, performers, volunteers, organizers and sponsors all need to buy tickets to attend the concert!