Having taken his rootsy folk-rock music to thousands across India and the globe, Raghu Dixit now has an audience with the Queen herself. On May 13, Raghu Dixit and his band The Raghu Dixit Project are set to perform at the Diamond Jubilee Pageant to an audience that will include Her Majesty the Queen of England and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. The Diamond Jubilee Pageant will take place at Windsor Castle and will be broadcast to more than 6 million viewers in the U.K. and to 240 countries across the world.
Dixit will sing live favorite “Mysore Se Aayi” and will be accompanied by a 70-piece orchestra and 12 dancers choreographed by Mayuri Upadhya of Nritarutya, one of India’s foremost contemporary dance companies.
Talking about the honor, Dixit said, “I am overwhelmed at the opportunity to perform for the Queen and the entire Royal Family at Windsor castle. And with such an impressive lineup of artists from around the world, I’m sure it will be a fantastic evening. We are putting together a music and dance extravaganza with dancers that is being choreographed by Mayuri Upadhya, from Nritarutya, one of India’s best dance companies, who will accompany me on stage along with all the queen’s horses! I still can’t imagine what that will look like!”
Other performers include British songstress Susan Boyle, American classical violinist David Garrett and operatic pop vocal group Il Divo. There will also be narrations from Dame Helen Mirren, Sanjeev Bhaskar and comedian Omid Djalili.
In other Raghu Dixit news, the band also will perform for the first time ever on popular BBC 1 TV show The Andrew Marr Show on April 15. The Raghu Dixit Project also will perform in the musical production of A Tale Retold, a collaboration between Dixit, members of British indie-folk act Bellowhead and Indian classical dancer Gauri Sharma Tripathi at two shows at London’s Alchemy Festival on April 18 and 19. A Tale Retold is produced by The British Council and the Southbank Centre.
Photo credit: Kanika Nagpal