The Eastern Fare Music Foundation is a music school, as well as a production and publishing house in

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

, Assam, India. The institute provides training for instrumental music in Western Classical music,

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is ...

and contemporary style. It was first founded in

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

in 2007. In 2016, the institute started its branches in

and

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a ...

. The branches in

North East India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

provide classes in dance and Indian classical music.

History

It started early in 2007 with Assamese musician Jim Ankan Deka. In today's date the institute has six branches in the states of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, Assam and

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and J ...

and provides training to over a thousand students. In 2009, Eastern Fare Music Foundation opened a club for the music enthusiasts known as Eastern Fare Music Club, which includes a library, a jamming room, two semi acoustic music studios and a discussion room.

Faculty

Jim Ankan Deka, founder and director of Eastern Fare Music Foundation, is a music composer, singer, songwriter, music arranger, documentary film maker, photographer, guitarist, keyboardist,

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproductio ...

and Editor-in-chief of EF News International. Anand Pilakkat, formerly a student of the Eastern Fare Music Institution is now a music composer. Suchin Ravi a former student of Eastern Fare Music Institution is a lead guitarist for various bands including Eastern Fare. Ankur Deka is a

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

of Musicology (postgraduate) in Indian Classical Music. He is also a singer, songwriter, composer and a keyboard player and has been composing music for forty years in various languages including Assamese, English,

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

and Mizo. Currently he is overseeing the branches in Assam and Meghalaya.

Ashok Singha Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

is a solo guitarist and joined EFMF in 2010.

Girish Sood Girish (also spelled as Gireesh) is a Hindu name which means "lord of the mountain " in Sanskrit ("giri" means rock/mountain and "isha" means shiva). This is a name of Lord Shiva, given because of his abode in the Himalayan Mountains. Girish i ...

is a guitarist and an Engineer by profession.

Students

The students of Eastern Fare Music Institution have been performing in various shows (international and national), composing music for albums, films,

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s and TV shows. Every year a lot of students from

and other parts of the world join the Eastern Fare Music Foundation for music education. In the year 2009, Shreya Krishnaswamy topped in Bangalore by scoring 98% in the Trinity Guildhall practical examination. Out of 5 (five) students appeared in the exam, all passed and got above 90%. In 2010, out of 19 students who appeared for Trinity Guildhall theory exam, 14 (fourteen) got distinction (87% and above) and 4 (four) got merit. Nafeesa Fathima topped in Bangalore with an outstanding 98%. The age of students range between 4 years and 80 years.

Courses

Eastern Fare Music Institution provides courses for classical, plectrum, bass and acoustic Guitar (Western Music and Contemporary Music), Piano (Western Classical and Jazz), Keyboard (Western and Contemporary Music), Carnatic vocal and

Veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps ...

. Students are trained to appear in both theory and practical graded examination from Trinity Guildhall. Students can apply for only theory course offered from Trinity Guildhall.

Festivals

Euphony

Founded in 2009 by Eastern Fare Music Foundation, the 'Euphony' music festival is a collaborative artist retreat for emerging young professionals and celebrated artists, held annually at the end of each summer and winter in Bangalore and Guwahati. Mainly two events are held every year - 'Euphony - a winter nocturne' in January and 'Euphony - a summer serenade' in August. The event features performances by well known and upcoming bands from all over India, DJ night with dance floor, pool parties, food and beverages and bonfire in winter. A Rock Competition is held in every winter and finalists get a chance to perform at the 'Euphony - a winter nocturne' fest.

Music Malt Online Fest

Founded by Eastern Fare Music Foundation under the Music Malt subsidiary, Music Malt Online Fest offers music video makers, directors and musicians an online platform to showcase their music videos. Every year October, three videos are chosen for Song of Substance, Creative Genius and The Dream Weaver awards. There are also ten consolation prizes. The festival started in 2013.

Eastern Fare Subsidiaries

Eastern Fare Production House (Eastern Fare Productions)

Eastern Fare is equipped with a state-of the art Jamming room and two Semi-Acoustic Studios to develop the expressive potential of the students besides encouraging their technical know-how of music. The studio is also available for commercial services like composing and arranging musical scores for Solo Songs, Albums Television and Film

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, Voice Over recording and editing. Since 2010, EFMF is involved in production of Documentary films and Short Films. So far EFPH has produced two documentaries – "Nagaland – journey through the choir of clouds" (director: Jim Ankan) and "Shillong – a short documentary" (director: Jim Ankan), and a short film, "Uninvited" (director: Parmita Borah). In 2012, Eastern Fare produced Timeless, an album by Jim Ankan Deka.

Music Malt

Music Malt (previously known as EF News International) is a popular music and culture related portal published by Eastern Fare Music Foundation team. It was first published on 1 August 2011. Citizens journalists and photographers from around the world regularly contribute news, articles and photographs to the portal. Music Malt conducts different festivals regularly which includes ''Music Malt Online Fest'' which started in 2013.

ChaiTunes

An initiative of Eastern Fare and Music Malt, ChaiTunes is a music project where musicians of various genres collaborate to produce different musical creations. These creations are shared with the world through a series of music videos viewable on the internet. The music videos are produced by Jim Ankan Deka under Eastern Fare Productions. Musicians like

Queen Hazarika Queen Hazarika (born 16 October 1976) is an Indian playback singer and actress from Assam. She has sung for Assamese films like ''Hiya Diya Niya'' ''Garam Botaah'', ''Mon'', ''Suren Suror Putek'' and ''Sneh Bandhan''. She is the recipient of Rot ...

, Antara Nandy and

Rupam Bhuyan Rupam Bhuyan ( as, ৰুপম ভূঞা, born 6 March 1980) is an Indian playback singer from Assam. He is the frontman of the Indian fusion band ''North East Breeze''. He is the lead vocalist of the band Tunetellers. He sang in numerous A ...

have joined the initiative.

Skrybble Web Studio

In 2011, Eastern Fare Music Foundation started its subsidiary Skrybble Web Studio. Skrybble mainly conducts creative writing workshops for children and adults in its Koramangala centre in Bangalore and provides various services like website designing and development, SEO, social media and PR solutions and corporate training.

Eastern Fare Publishing House

A subsidiary of EFMF, Eastern Fare Publishing House was launched in 2011. The publishing house's first book 'Elandhu' was inaugurated on 25 December 2011 in

, Assam. 'Elandhu' (The Smut) is a collection of Assamese short stories by writer Nalini Prava Deka. The book was released by litterateur

Lakshmi Nandan Bora Lakshmi Nandan Bora (15 June 1932 – 3 June 2021) was an Indian novelist and short story writer in the Assamese language, known for over 60 books he has authored, including award winning novels, ''Patal Bhairavi'' and ''Kayakalpa''. A recipient ...

at the ' Kamrup Mahanagar Jila Sahitya Shabha' at

Dispur Dispur (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Assam and is a suburb at Guwahati. It became the capital in 1973, when Shillong the erstwhile capital, became the capital of the state of Meghalaya that was carved out of Assam. Dispur is the ...

, Guwahati.

Eastern Fare (acoustic rock band)

Eastern Fare Music Foundation started an acoustic rock band named Eastern Fare in 2009. The band consists of Siddharth Tanti and Faheeda Fahad on Vocals, Jim Ankan Deka on Lead Guitars, Suchin Ravi on Rhythm Guitars, Anand PM on Keyboards and Bass and Sharan on Drums. Some of their original compositions are "Least Liked Best", "Personally Your's", "How Else Can We Sing This" and "Horizon in My Eye".

Philanthropy

Count Your Blessings (CYB)

‘Count Your Blessings’, a philanthropic initiative by Eastern Fare Music Club was established in October 2010. The members of this initiative focus mainly on blood donation camps, donation to non-profit organizations, visiting slum areas and giving aid, giving education to underprivileged children and visiting senior citizens home and orphanage.

North-East India Page on Facebook

An initiative of Eastern Fare Music Foundation, the

North-East India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

page on Facebook was founded in July 2009. It was Jim Ankan and his team’s love for North-East that gave forth to the creation of this popular page on Facebook. With regular updates of imperative, fun and frolicking facts about the North Eastern Corner of India, the page also focuses on and puts forward the significant travel destinations and esteemed North Eastern Personalities to a worldwide audience. The page currently has over 32,000 members and growing.

North-East Through My Eyes photo contest

In 2012, Eastern Fare in association with the North-East India page on Facebook started a yearly photo contest – ''North-East Through My Eyes''. The theme of the contest is North-East India.

References

{{Reflist Music schools in Bangalore