Kohima’s Brillante Piano Festival hits the right notes

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Five years after she founded the three-day Brillante Piano Festival in Kohima, Nagaland, Khyochano TCK feels she can finally catch her breath. The fifth edition, which was held at the end of September, had pianists from 18 countries performing and, for the first time, it was held outside of Nagaland.

Brillante debuted as a small event in Kohima in 2017 with state sponsorship. Over five years, it has grown as more people, sponsors and organisations chipped in. “Bengaluru is kind to various forms of arts and culture and they appreciate music," says Khyochano of her decision to widen the festival’s appeal by taking it to South India after holding the first four editions in Nagaland.

“From the beginning, we have been very clear with our intent of bringing a community together that can not only foster unity and celebrate music but also have a support system at different levels for the music community to flourish," says Khyochano. With demos, masterclasses, workshops and competitions spanning three days, the festival brought together maestros, prodigies, young people and parents to share their passion for music. As a precursor to the main event , they organised a Street Piano Festival at Church Street.

With participants from 18 countries and 16 Indian states, the fifth edition had performances by Lydian Nadhaswaram, Manoj George, Radha Thomas, Marouan Benabdallah and Aman Mahajan, among others. Khyochano says “the piano movement in Nagaland"—as she describes the love for the instrument in the state—has been largely women-led. It was the Christian missionaries who brought the piano and western classical music to the region in the 1800s, though Nagaland has a long musical lineage that existed