Young musicians from Kerala to shine at Europe’s renowned Playground Music Festival

Thiruvananthapuram: Two young sisters from Kerala are set to take centre stage at one of Europe’s oldest and most celebrated music festivals. Arunitha and Aanya Mohan, daughters of Bobby and Mina Mohan, have been invited to perform at the prestigious Playground Music Festival in Germany, a platform that draws some of the world’s finest classical and contemporary musicians.

The invitation came through the Goethe-Zentrum, the German Cultural and Language Institute, which has long fostered artistic exchanges between India and Germany. The festival, organised by the acclaimed musical ensemble The Playfords, will take place from November 7 to 9.

The Playfords, based in Weimar, the birthplace of German literary icon Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, are known for reviving and reinterpreting early European music. The inclusion of the Mohan sisters marks a unique confluence of Kerala’s classical traditions and Europe’s historical soundscape.

Arunitha, an alumna of Sri Swathi Thirunal Government Music College, is a professional veena artist and music educator at Sarvodaya School. Her younger sister, Aanya, a final-year BA Economics student at Mar Ivanios College, is an accomplished violinist trained in both Indian classical and Western styles. She also composes music and performs as a pianist.

“The invitation offers young Indian musicians a chance to experience and interpret early European music in its authentic context,” said Dr Syed Ibrahim, Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kerala.