About
To nurture and promote talent rooted in the heritage of Indian classical music and dance, and to make it freely accessible to wide audiences.
HCL Concerts is one of India's largest and longest-running performing-arts platforms, launched in 1998 by the HCL Group to promote Indian classical music and dance. Its concerts - free to attend - run year-round across ten Indian cities and in New York and San Francisco, and it has built digital and talent-discovery platforms to widen access and seed the next generation of classical artists.
For over a quarter-century HCL Concerts has presented free classical music and dance concerts, featuring legends from Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia to rare forms such as Dhrupad, Rudra Veena and Gaudiya Nritya. Over 27 years it has organised 800-plus concerts showcasing more than 3,200 artists to over 325,000 attendees.
It has steadily expanded beyond the stage: 'Baithak' brought virtual baithak-style performances during the pandemic and after; 'Carnatic Quest' is a talent-discovery platform for young Carnatic musicians; and 'The Great Indian Classical Podcast' targets younger audiences. Together these make HCL Concerts both a presenter and an ecosystem-builder for Indian classical arts.
Founding & Leadership
HCL Concerts was launched in 1998 by the HCL Group - the global technology enterprise founded by Shiv Nadar - as a way of giving back through the promotion of India's classical performing-arts heritage. It is steered by the HCL Corporation, distinct from but sharing leadership with the Shiv Nadar Foundation.
An initiative of the HCL Group / HCL Corporation, driven by its strategy office.
Leadership & Trustees
Initiatives & Portfolio
Year-round, free-to-attend classical music and dance concerts across ten Indian cities plus New York and San Francisco.
A virtual, intimate baithak-style concert series of Indian classical music and dance, launched in 2020.
A talent-discovery platform identifying and supporting young Carnatic musicians across vocal, veena, violin, flute and percussion.
A podcast series with classical-music icons aimed at engaging Gen Z audiences.
Multi-day flagship concert events featuring leading classical instrumentalists.
Cultural Funding
Cultural verticals
Impact & Metrics
Partnerships & Network
Partner institutions
Funders & patrons
Runs the Global Carnatic Confluence (NRI Series) jointly with the Gurukulam Foundation; partners with Rhapsody Music Foundation as talent-screening partner for the Carnatic Quest talent hunt; works with DViO Digital to expand its digital and social reach.
Credentials & Compliance
CSR-eligible · Schedule VII(v) - art & culture
HCL Concerts is a corporate-funded platform of the HCL Group, not a standalone charitable body, so charitable credentials (80G/12A/CSR-1/FCRA) do not apply and its finances are not separately disclosed. [Atlas Assessment] It functions primarily as a presenter/programmer rather than a grant-making funder, though its Carnatic Quest talent hunt awards cash prizes to young musicians, a modest direct-funding activity alongside its core programming.
A corporate cultural platform funded by the HCL Group; aligns with the promotion of art & culture under CSR Schedule VII(v), though run as a brand-led initiative rather than a grant programme.
Recognition
Described as one of India's largest and longest-running platforms for Indian classical performing arts.
In the Press
Gallery
[Atlas Assessment] HCL Concerts is one of the most sustained corporate commitments to Indian classical performing arts. Its free-access model has, over a quarter-century, made high-quality Hindustani and Carnatic music and dance available to large audiences across India and the diaspora, while its talent-discovery and digital platforms actively replenish the field. It is a rare example of a technology company building durable cultural infrastructure rather than one-off sponsorships.
HCL Concerts scores strongly on reach and longevity — free concerts, ten cities, 27 years, broad digital reach — and meaningfully on ecosystem influence through Carnatic Quest and its digital platforms. Its key caveat is structural: as a corporate platform it is dependent on HCL's continued commitment rather than an endowment, and it is not separately accountable as a charitable institution. It is best understood as durable corporate cultural infrastructure, and engaged with as a collaborator rather than a grantee.