Palais Eschenbach, Eschenbachgasse 11
18th July, 19.30
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Graz, Austria
Heilandskirche, Kaiser Josef Platz 9
17th July 2012, 19.30
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Gmunden, Austria
Kapuzinerkirche, Rathausplatz 1
16th July 2012, 19.30
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Sofia, Bulgaria
July 2011
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In July we were invited by our Bulgarian friends to give two concerts in Sofia and Plovdiv. Once Eshana heard of these plans she was determined that we should nip across the Serbian boarder and give a concert in Niš too.
It was great to be back in Sofia, our first time in 4 years, and despite the overwhelming heat we performed to a great audience, performing Sri Chinmoy‘s Bulgaria song – a tribute to the Country – gave us a real thrill and the audience loved it. The next day we made the beautiful journey to Niš, it was a pleasant surprise to discover that the concert hall was the same one we’d performed at on our first visit to Niš back in the 90s. 300 people crowded into the room and we thoroughly enjoyed our concert, as did our audience. Our last concert was in Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulgaria. Members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre welcomed us and looked after our every need, and giving the concert was a real joy.
— Shankara
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Plovdiv, Bulgaria
July 2011
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Read the report of this tour here »
Practising for the concert…
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Niš, Serbia
Songs of the Soul
November 2010
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We had the great privilege of performing at the Songs of the Soul European Tour, which took in Amsterdam, Paris, London, Bristol, Oxford and Dublin. A number of music groups from around the world participated, including the hugely inspiring Gandharva Loka Orchestra, and we were thrilled to be taking part. Overall we performed to over 3000 people.
London, UK
5th July 2010
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Reykjavik, Iceland
Frikirkjan, Reykjavik
8th July 2010
For a while our friends in Iceland had been insisting that Temple-Song-Hearts had to come to Reykjavik, but I’d not taken them too seriously. My excuses were the expense of flights and the difficulty of tying in Iceland as part of a tour. But when Husiar started talking about us visiting Oslo, the idea of a tour started to take shape. With a recording session planned for London in July, we took the opportunity to pop over to Norway, and then up to Iceland for some concerts.
After a week of recording in London (Temple Song Hearts XIII) we headed off to Oslo. There we not only had a very nice concert in a book shop in Oslo, with an easy and receptive audience, but also got to see the beautiful statue of Sri Chinmoy, standing on prayer, overlooking the peaceful Oslo Harbour. It was a breathtaking experience to see the statue gazing out across the water, with the Peace Flame in front.
Then we were off to Iceland, with a very excited Bhauliya – she’s been dreaming of living in Iceland since her first visit a few years back.
Iceland is like another world, Sahana tells me it has recently been voted Best Country to live in and I can see why. Peaceful, beautiful, but with a young vibe and liveliness, it may be a little on the blowy and cool side but 24 hour sunlight, fresh air and a sky that looks so close you could reach up and touch it more than makes up for the drop in Celsius. We enjoyed the warmest of welcomes, the Church where we gave the concert is beautiful, light pours in through the windows and it overlooks the ‘pond’ a 2 mile circumference lake that can be seen from the stage, I don’t recall a Church with quite such a light and happy air about it. We then returned to the Sri Chinmoy Meditation Centre to celebrate Gambuja’s birthday, they laid on pizza and cake – what more could one wish for – and at the end of the evening I was presented with a special reminder of Iceland, a jar of ash!
The next morning we had to return to London to finish off recording. So in the space of 72 hours we had 2 concerts, 3 flights, 0 hours of darkness, enjoyed 2 cultures, played to 240 people, and arrived home feeling like we’d been away for weeks.
– Shankara
