For the Guinness record, 136 keyboards play in unison

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The youngest is only six and the oldest, 17 , but these children have already won worldwide recognition.

They are on a team of 136 young keyboard artistes of the School of Music, Thrissur which recently won a place both in Guinness World Records and the Limca Book of Records for a performance by the largest ever keyboard ensemble in the world.

The event, held at the Trichur Tennis Trust on November 20, 2011, was conceptualised by the School’s managing director, Raju K.K.

The idea for the world record attempt came about during discussions with parents and students about ways to increase participation in musical events.

“At first, the attempt at the record was a joke but then we decided to go about it seriously,” explains Mr Raju, who spent over six months teaching his students a medley of songs from around the world to attempt it.

The pieces of music played on the occasion included the 2010 football World Cup theme song ‘Waka waka’ and evergreen numbers from the Bollywood hit ‘Sholay.’

As Limca required the band to play before its panel of judges as well as the public, the challenge was even greater “We were more concerned about getting an opportunity to share our music with people from around the world, than even beating the earlier record of 107 keyboards held by an American team,” Mr Raju adds.