Noted Malayalam music director-duo-brothers Berny-Ignatius inaugurated a three-day music festival organized by Piano in Thrissur in remembrance of late tabla player, composer and ghazal singer Philip V. Francis, who passed away last year in a bike accident at age 43.

During his speech, Berny said Philip’s interdisciplinary approach to music made a difference in his career. "Very few people in the music industry have a similar outlook. He was a vocalist, composer and tabla player. The tone of his tabla-playing was commendable. He also delivered good results as a vocalist. Philip could realize only a few of his brilliant ideas during his brief life. In our conversations, I could sense a man who was raring to experiment. He had several offbeat projects up his sleeve," he recalled.

Mayor R. Bindu, director Babu Narayanan, P.C. Thomas and Pisharody Chandran were present. A choral music programme by Sruthi School of Liturgical Music of the Orthodox Syrian Church followed the meeting. 45 choral groups from different countries, including Russia, Latvia, Lituania, Georgia, France, Romania, Ukraine, Armenia, Poland, Armenia and the Netherlands, are taking part in a contest held as a part of the festival.

On Friday, the music festival will felicitate vocalists V. Gopala Bhagavathar, R. Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Sudha Varma, and instrumentalists Thrissur David, Puthur Rajan and V.K. Unniraj. A western music show by Nomads will follow. On Saturday, a film song based programme titled ‘Thushara Bindukkal’ will be presented.