NEW DELHI, January 17, 2026 : The 35th Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival (LGMF) opened in New Delhi on January 17, 2026, bringing together Indian and international artists for a night of music and dance at Baansera Park, in collaboration with the ICCR’s India International Dance and Music Festival. The event was inaugurated by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and attended by diplomats and cultural dignitaries.
Highlights included the 150th anniversary orchestral premiere of “Vande Mataram”, composed by Dr. L. Subramaniam, featuring a full symphony, choir, and ballet. This performance will tour internationally as a tribute to India’s national song. The Astana Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the Aktobe Chamber Choir, and the Gakku ballet ensemble presented subsequent acts conducted by Abzal Mukhitdin.
The evening’s centerpiece was the Indian premiere of Dr. Subramaniam’s “Navagraha Symphony”, inspired by the nine planets and blending Sanskrit verses with Western orchestral form. It featured performances by Kavita Krishnamurti Subramaniam and the Subramaniam family across three generations.
The finale, “Shantipriya”, originally composed in 1987 for the Kirov Ballet, received its first live ballet staging in India, earning a standing ovation. The event underscored Dr. Subramaniam’s pioneering role as India’s foremost orchestral composer, with nearly 40 compositions and more than 300 global performances.
The festival, founded in 1992, continues its tour across Chandigarh, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru throughout January, reaffirming its status as a premier global platform for cross-cultural musical exchange.
