Hi,

I'm Daniel Linden, founder and president of the Gharana Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization with a mission to expand opportunities in classical music and music education in Nepal.

Music has always fascinated me. As a kid living about 45 miles north of New York City, I remember being obsessed with Mozart’s requiem. I would listen to parts of it over and over on the CD player in my room. When I started playing the guitar, I was never really into learning pop songs. I liked the idea of doing something different.

As a young kid, I also developed a fascination with the Himalayas, and I remember pasting images of the world’s highest peaks all over my bedroom walls. So when I graduated from the Manhattan School of Music in 2009 with a yearning for travel and adventure, I decided there was only one place for me to go.

Over the next three years I spent as much time in Nepal as I could. Then something incredible happened – I met the love of my life on the way to a music festival in the foothills of the Himalayas. We eventually married and Nepal became my home.

Throughout these years I had met and collaborated with a variety of exceptional musicians from the Eastern classical and Nepali folk scene. I also became immersed in a contemporary Kathmandu music scene with enormous potential and simmering passion.

I saw in many young music students a reflection of myself as a kid. I saw their hunger to seek broader musical horizons, their creative optimism and ability to think outside the box. Inquisitive students would approach me seeking the answers to broad questions, like “what is the essence of Western classical music?” or “How can I compose in a classical style?” Those are big questions, and they can only begin to be answered through broader exposure and quality sustained music education initiatives. I sensed a persistent frustration given the general lack of availability of these types of programs. Students watched YouTube videos of music from all over the world but for the most part had nowhere to see and hear and really feel the music they wanted to explore in a live setting.

I realized how lucky I was to have grown up with access to such a wide variety of musical experiences and I thought, why can’t those same experiences be available in Nepal for those seeking them?

I perceived the Gharana Music Festival as series of concerts and free educational workshops by world-class international and Nepali artists. I wanted it to be an inclusive space for the public of all ages, for anyone interested, to come together to learn, to listen, to explore and to find something meaningful in music from all over the world.

The first festival was a success, and we were able to inspire hundreds of concertgoers and dozens of students who learned skills and gained insight that will inform their practice and shape their ambitions. It was inspiring to see how deeply the students were engaged, and the gratitude they expressed for the opportunity to learn was heartwarming. One diligent student, dressed in a suit and tie for the occasion, approached me directly after a workshop to ask where he could find more opportunities like this in Kathmandu. It is our mission at GMF to make such opportunities available.

Now, as we prepare for our second festival, we are excited to welcome a wider variety of international and local artists, and to expand the scope of our workshops. We recently launched our first sustained music education program at the Early Childhood Development Center in Kathmandu, a nurturing residential home for children of incarcerated parents.

The road ahead is filled with challenges, but despite looming obstacles, music and the arts continue to develop with momentum fueled by passion, vision, organization and dedication, and every year new endeavors, educational opportunities and local and international programs emerge.

This is just the beginning. With your help, we will develop new music education programs and collaborate to expand those that already exist. We envision sustained programs with local teachers and long-term commitments, supplemented by international exchanges and residencies where artists can offer specific training, collaborate on musical projects and inspire teachers and students to pursue larger dreams. We envision individuals having more opportunities to explore their interests and enrich their lives by attending a wide variety of concerts, and we envision communities where local traditions continue to flourish alongside traditions from around the world.

We hope that you share our vision and will support Gharana Music Foundation in our mission to enrich lives through expanded opportunities in music and music education in Nepal.

With warmest regards and many thanks,

Daniel Linden

GHARANA MUSIC FOUNDATION INC

Expanding opportunities in classical music and music education in Nepal

Fundraising Campaigns

Gharana Music Foundation's Fall Fundraising Drive for Music Education in Nepal

Gharana Music Foundation & Festival 2016: Help Support Classical Music Education In Nepal