Music is said to have the power to create magic and bring people together, to connect with or without words. We Surtis are some of the most chilled out people one can find, we appreciate great food, good music and some serious fun.
For a long time, Surat has been bereft of opportunities for people interested in the field of music with only a few places which may or may not provide everything one hopes for.
To bring about a change in the music scene of Surat, Divya Kalra, with her music school FifthNote enters with a vision of spreading her passion with us.
Spending many years in Germany, she was encouraged to see that students not only concentrated on education, but spent equal time and energy in extracurricular activities, mainly learning to play different musical instruments. Meeting with her friends and knowing about their young kids mastering difficult instruments like Cello really inspired her. She knew as she returned to India that she wanted to bring a change in the music scene in Surat, and that’s how the idea of FifthNote was conceived.
“The purpose of FifthNote is to passionately promote music as a life skill”, she said when asked the core idea behind undertaking this project. She pays a great deal of importance to the word “passionately” as her team aspires to build the organization into more than just a music class.
Located at VIP Plaza at VIP Road, FifthNote does an event almost every Sunday to promote their music which amasses almost a couple of hundred people. Various workshops and events like “World of Drums”, “Dholki evening” have been hugely appreciated by Surtis and have also garnered media attention. It is her belief that everyone can learn music. The youngest student they have is 5 years old and the oldest is 63 years old.

The courses offered are in Guitar, Piano, Drums, Indian Vocals, Western Vocals and Djembe, faculties include some of the best musicians from India and abroad, having training from esteemed colleges like AR Rahman College (KMMC), Chennai and internationally from Brazil.
In the last five months, more than 1500 people interested in various genres and forms have enrolled in her school which is a benchmark for them. This shows that change is happening and is well received by people. She says her vision is to expand this idea to various other cities, giving everyone a chance to find the music in them.

As inspiring as her journey sounds, the idea of this school peaks our interest. Go check out the place one of these Sundays, support someone’s passion and learn some new stuff along the way.