CulturalFest Countdown: Meet Awaaz!
Less than three days to go until the CulturalFest Performance Showcase! Read about one of this year’s CulturalFest performers, Awaaz, a talented a capella group that combines Indian and Western music!
Less than three days to go until the CulturalFest Performance Showcase, featuring eleven performing artists from around the world on the Meany Hall stage. Read on to learn more about one of this year’s CulturalFest performers, Awaaz, a talented a capella group that combines Indian and Western music!
How did your group begin? Tell us a little bit about your story.
Started in 2009, UW Awaaz was founded by two members of the Southeast Asian community who wanted to combine Indian music and Western music. We followed the tradition of other South Asian a capella groups while continuing to create our own style by adding elements from different cultures and media. We started competing at a competition put on at UC Berkeley, and we’ve been going there ever since because we love competing.
Can you tell us how members of the group got together?
We decided to gather to go to the competition mostly and we became a competitive and performing group. There were only 9 people back then and now we have 17. The process of audition gets harder every year because many people are more interested in trying out. We try to keep our number around 17 because it is the number of people allowed within a group when we go to professional competition.
Awaaz performing at CulturalFest two years ago
Since you're a returning group, what has performing in past CulturalFests meant to you?
What we really like about CulturalFest is that it wasn’t just an event where we go and perform. CulturalFest is more like understanding--people want to know where you’re coming from, why you’re doing what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. It has more significance and meaning behind it. We were given the opportunity to explain where we come from and why we love doing what we’re doing. We also really enjoy watching CulturalFest, getting to see what other groups have done, getting to see different cultures all over the globe. We don’t get that at other events that specialized for a capella groups.
What can the audience expect to be different this year?
We’re learning more the about the aspect of performance, versus just the aspect of singing. We really focus more on the emotions behind it. We try our best to be present and engaging on stage, to provoke emotion of joy and nostalgia from the audience. We also try to involve the audience by showing a theme, or a progression through our songs.
Can you explain more how you bring a theme into a song? And is there any theme you will be bringing to CulturalFest this year?
We try to bring our themes through every song, themes of love, power, struggle, spirituality. We try to create dynamic movement, for example, by starting off singing about a person wishing to be at a certain place, and we try our best to convey the progression of being confused to being actualized. With the lyrics, the music, the choreography and the way we arrange the song, we aim to add aspect to the progression of the story in every way we can. We not only deal with English but also with other languages that people might not be familiar with, so we wish to convey our message through lyrics, movement and expression.
Is there anything else you want the audience to know or what do you hope the audience will take away from your performance?
I really like the audience to just enjoy and relate to our songs. We deal with themes really common among people like heartbreak, moments when we feel happy and empowered and also when we’re feeling down. I hope the audience, after watching our performance, they walk out and can be like, “Oh, I am totally connected to that.”
Join us for our celebration of the diversity and talent that international students bring to our community!
CulturalFest Ticket Information:
General admission tickets are on sale now for $15 online or at the door. Discounted student tickets are available for $10 in advance at the FIUTS office (HUB 206).
Don't forget that CulturalFest is much more than just the Performance Showcase. Support FIUTS programs at the Reception and Silent Auction before the performances.