Latest news with #IndianClassicalMusic
Malay Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Temple of Fine Arts to illuminate Dewan Filharmonik Petronas with classical Indian showcase on Sept 6
KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — The Temple of Fine Arts (TFA) is staging a special performance at Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (DFP) on Sept 6. Themed 'Classical Traditions: Ragas and Mudras', it will feature Hindustani and Carnatic music, as well as four classical Indian dances: Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kathak and Kuchipudi. DFP said this highly anticipated showcase promises an immersive journey into the heart of Indian culture. ''Ragas' are melodic frameworks or 'modes' in Indian classical music, a combination of notes (called 'swaras') along with phrases and nuances (called 'gamakas') that define its unique character. ''Mudras' are symbolic ritual gestures, primarily performed with the hands, fingers, the entire body or even eye movements and breathing techniques,' DFP said in a media release. It said this show is part of its ongoing efforts to provide a platform for the performances of Malaysian arts and culture. Last year, DFP staged various culture-based performances including Mek Mulung Putera Cahaya Bulan, Randai Mudo Pak Belalang, Jit Sin Secondary School Chinese Orchestra and Sanggar Seni. Founded in 1981, TFA is dedicated to the development of Indian arts and culture. It has presented over 20 major productions and 300 short works including explorations of integrations of different cultural themes. TFA has staged its productions around the world including Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Tickets for the Sept 6 performance, priced between RM69 and RM249, can be purchased at DFP's website — Bernama
RNZ News
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Reconnecting with the sitar
This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions. Sitar player Shalu Garg Photo: Supplied Shalu Garg is a member of the growing number of Indian classical musicians who call Aotearoa home. Garg brought herself and her sitar into RNZ's Auckland studios where she chatted with Concert host Bryan Crump in between playing two excerpts in Raag Khamaj. She began with a small Alaap "to reflect the soul of the Raag", followed by a Dhun - a semi-classical piece. She explained to Crump that a Raag is a little like a musical scale. As a child growing up in New Delhi, Shalu Garg had many talents, including music. She began learning the sitar at the age of eight, but at the same time, she was also excelling in drama and sport - competing at a national level in athletics. Then her school grades began to suffer. Garg's parents persuaded her to put aside extra-curricular activities to focus on her studies. Academically, it paid off. She graduated from university with a degree in accounting. But when she and her husband settled in New Zealand and she went to a concert of Indian music, she began to feel the pull of the sitar again. However, Garg doesn't do things by halves. If she was going to relearn the sitar she was going to do it properly, which meant finding a teacher back in India. Thanks to Skype and air travel, she was able to do that. Now Garg is a regular performer at Indian classical concerts, often in tandem with leading Auckland tabla player Manjit Singh, founder of the city's Rhythm School of Indian Music , who also teaches Indian music at Auckland University. Recent performances have also seen Garg, Singh and other Indian musicians make music with some of New Zealand's top jazz artists, including sax player Nathan Haines. Crump suggested maybe the next generation of budding sitarists living in New Zealand won't have to find a teacher in India, they'll be able to learn from her instead. And to end the conversation, Garg played another composition in Raag Khamaj, a faster-paced finishing piece called a Jhala.
Times of Oman
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times of Oman
Where the Oud meets the Sarod: A musical bridge across civilisations
MUSCAT: The haunting resonance of the Oud, one of the oldest stringed instruments in the Arab world, continues to echo across generations. But few may know that its musical lineage spans continents — from Arabia to Afghanistan, and from there to the heart of India, evolving into the Sarod, now a cornerstone of Indian classical music. At the crossroads of this journey stands Joydeep Mukherjee, an eminent Indian musician and cultural historian based out of eastern Indian city of Kolkata, who has dedicated his life to reviving these forgotten connections — not only through performance, but also through painstaking restoration and research. 'The lute has long held its place on the world stage,' said Mukherjee in a chat with Times of Oman. 'But it is the Arabian Oud and Afghan Rabab that shaped the journey of the fretless lute family. These instruments didn't just travel — they transformed, enriched by the musical soil of every region they touched.' The story of this transformation began in 6th and 7th century Arabia, where the Oud and Rabab gained prominence. From the Middle East, they journeyed eastward, entering Afghanistan, where the Rabab emerged as a distinct and popular folk instrument. By the 13th century, Afghan soldiers and horse traders brought the Rabab to India — an instrument once played while marching into battle, now seeking new life in a land of melody. Over time, North Indian musicians began experimenting with the Afghan Rabab, attempting to adapt it to Indian ragas. Perhaps the most pivotal transformation came in the 16th century, when Miya Tansen, legendary court musician of Emperor Akbar, reimagined the Rabab to better serve Indian classical music. This larger, deeper version came to be known as the 'Dhrupad Rabab', later evolving into the 'Tanseni' or 'Seni Rabab.' The next century saw Jaffer Khan, a descendant of Tansen, replace the Rabab's wooden components with steel and wood, creating a new instrument — the Sursingar. Parallel innovations followed in the central Indian city of Gwalior, where Hyder Khan and Ghulam Ali Khan Bangash introduced metallic strings and steel fretboards, naming the refined instrument Sarod — meaning 'sweet sound' in Persian. It was Ghulam Ali's son Nanne Khan, and later his descendants — most notably Hafiz Ali Khan and the globally renowned Amjad Ali Khan — who brought the Sarod to international acclaim. Their interpretations made the Sarod not only a household name in Indian music but also a symbol of Indo-Middle Eastern musical kinship. Yet, parallel innovations were quietly flourishing elsewhere. In Shahjahanpur, Murad Ali deepened the Sarod's tone by adopting metallic strings. His lineage — Abdullah Khan and Mohammed Ameer Khan — made further refinements, even developing the Sur-Rabab, a hybrid of Sursingar and Tanseni Rabab, in the 1880s in British Bengal. But perhaps no one explored the full potential of these instruments like Radhika Mohan Maitra during the mid-20th century. A visionary of the Shahjahanpur Gharana, he created multiple unique hybrids: the Mohanveena (Sarod + Sursingar), the Dilbahar (Sarod + Surbahar), and Nabadeepa (Sursingar + Sarangi). Parallel to these developments, Ustad Wazir Khan, a descendant of Tansen's daughter and court musician of Rampur, trained the iconic Baba Allaudin Khan. The latter revolutionised the Sarod's design — enlarging the sound box, lengthening the body, and increasing the number of sympathetic strings. These changes formed the blueprint for what would become the Senia Maihar Gharana's Sarod — played by Ali Akbar Khan, Bahadur Khan, and Sharan Rani, among others. The evolutionary arc continued with Buddhadeb Dasgupta, principal disciple of Radhika Mohan Maitra. In the 1960s and '70s, he introduced a child-friendly 36-inch Sarod model, further democratising access to this once-royal instrument. Today, when many classical musicians chase stage time and limelight, Joydeep Mukherjee has chosen a more introspective path — tracing the past, reviving forgotten sounds, and giving life to instruments that were fading into silence. A grand disciple of Radhika Mohan Maitra, Mukherjee has, over the past 15 years, revived and restored fretless lutes like the Tanseni Rabab, Sursingar, Sur-Rabab, and Mohanveena. In 2025, he completed the restoration of every significant Sarod variant from the Shahjahanpur Gharana, spanning more than two centuries of innovation — from Murad Ali to Buddhadeb Dasgupta. 'Music is universal. It should not be restricted by geography,' Mukherjee said. 'The Middle East has shaped India's musical traditions for over a thousand years. There was cultural intermingling for millennia. My work is a tribute to that shared history.' Mukherjee hopes that his revival of these instruments sends a message across borders. 'To those in the Arab world who cherish the Oud and Rabab, know that these instruments live on — not just in memory, but in sound, performance, and evolution.' In a time when tradition and innovation often stand at odds, Mukherjee is proving they can co-exist. Music is not just sound — it is memory, migration, and meaning. Through his hands, the lute family sings again, telling stories that span deserts, courts, and centuries.
