‘Music Against Hunger’: The charity concert for an era of pandemic
The first instalment of a two-night residency in virtual space through Facebook, titled ‘Music Against Hunger’, is defined to invade living spaces, dormitories, bedrooms and wherever else Bangladeshis may crawl into wherever they may be resident in today’s world - with the same noble aim as another famous gig in the nation’s history.
To paraphrase the chorus to the song written by a reasonably well-known Beatle back in your day: ‘give a few of your bread, to have the starving fed.’ Or as the cry went up, more famously from the outro: ‘Relieve the persons of Bangladesh’.
Back then, it had been the ravages of a war, at once terrible yet necessary. Today it really is in the midst of a pandemic that has fair-well brought the complete people to its knees. Every nation is fending for itself only. Madison Square Garden? Not open. Thankfully, almost 50 years later - we don’t need them.
Today the task falls upon every Bangladeshi, or scrap that - anyone in virtually any corner of the world, who traces a lineage, a feeling, a language, that tugs at their heart’s strings (the music!) from that land wrought in blood and fed by rivers, where ‘Sylhot’ and ‘Chittagong’ and ‘Dahkka’ all come together - to pool our resources. The emaciated child with the begging bowl before the world no longer cuts it. We know where we’ve been - the Valley and the Wharf and among the Bedouins, fairly buzzing together with your accent from Noakhali. Let’s now surrender to where everything began - where people are still dying, as the ‘hunger victims’ of COVID-19.
Given that that music of course you like is playing, you know there’s no end to your possibilities.
And so heading in to the occasion of Eid-Ul-Fitr, the special concert has been organized by Resource Co-ordination Network Bangladesh (RCNB) with the participation of four of the heartthrobs of Bangladeshi music - Raef Al Hasan Rafa, Tahsan, Minar and Topu.
The concert, hosted by Zunaed Rabbani and Juneyna Kabir, will be broadcast live from the state Facebook page of 'Music Against Hunger' at 10 pm on Saturday. Rafa and Tahsan will take part in the concert on the first night, and Minar and Topu will participate on the next and yesterday evening on Sunday.
Online streaming platform Bioscope will also stream the concert at the iphone app and private RADIO station ABC Radio will broadcast the concert at their Facebook page as well. Hosts Zunaed Rabbani and Juneyna Kabir are also the co- in-charges of the concert.
Aiming to help the pandemic influenced persons who are financially devastated by the Coronavirus scourge, the fundraising concert can be an possibility to donate towards vulnerable families in Bangladesh and session musicians whose livelihoods have already been severely afflicted by Covid-19, stated the event organizers.
Foods will be distributed to the needy people in different districts of the country through the fundraising concert. Based on the organizers, the general public Health Foundation of Bangladesh will distribute the collected money. Financial assistance could be sent to the Public Health Foundation of Bangladesh's Prime Bank-account number 2503116000594.
Voluntary organization Dhroopad will be accepting and distributing all of the concert proceeds collected from outside Bangladesh. International donors can contribute to the campaign through PayPal at [email protected]
Close-up and Bioscope and ABC Radio are co-sponsoring the concert online. More info will be accessible at Music For Hunger’s event page at Facebook and https://choloshobai.com/campaign/music-against-hunger/.
