Unaccompanied Minors, a completely student-run musical ensemble, performed at the Burlington High School for a celebration of India’s Republic Day on Saturday. An estimated 1,500 people attended the event—the sheer number of people attending the vent was both exciting and shocking to Unaccompanied Minors. Members of India Association of Greater Boston (IAGB), a group that was involved with planning the festival, had previously attended an Unaccompanied Minors orchestral concert. They were so impressed with the concert that they invited Unaccompanied Minors to participate in this year’s celebration. Unaccompanied Minors was thrilled to be given the chance to play at the commemoration of the Indian holiday. Kaki Elgin ’09, President and Horn player of Unaccompanied Minors, explained, “We jumped at the opportunity. This celebration is a huge event, and we perform[ed] in front of a very large audience.” Unaccompanied Minors departed campus at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon in rally wagons driven by faculty volunteers. They then practiced their piece before performing onstage at 5:30 pm. Arun Saigal ’09 and Andi Zhou ’09, conductor and assistant conducter of Unaccompanied Minors, respectively, chose to play “Halla Bol,” a Bollywood movie song. Zhou conducted while Faiyad Ahmad ’10 sang and Saigal played an Indian Drum called Mridangam. The excellent piece led the audience to uproarious applause. “We performed very well,” said Saigal. “There was barely any standing room in the large auditorium, and there were apparently people listening outside the door as well,” said Elgin. Saigal reported, “IAGB said that there were two highlights of the evening, the foremost being our performance.” “It was a wonderful way to celebrate India’s Republic Day,” said Saigal.
