Darbar Festival 2013
Weekend immersion in Indian classical music, culture and food featuring pioneering female Indian musicians and a special tribute to Pandit Ravi Shankar
London’s Southbank Centre
From Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 September
http://www.darbar.org/darbarfestival
“Shimmering and hypnotic ragas of staggering beauty”
Time Out
The Darbar Festival returns to the Southbank Centre following its sell out success in 2012 for another invigorating weekend of music, talks, food, and yoga from Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 September in the Purcell Room for a full immersion in the hypnotic flavours of India. This year the unique Festival of both Hindustani and Carnatic music will showcase the next generation of India’s most respected up and coming talent with a special focus on female performers, some of whom will be performing in London for the first time. The Festival will also celebrate the life and memory of the great Pandit Ravi Shankar who passed away in December 2012.
“The Darbar Festival is now the largest of its kind outside the Indian subcontinent, and one of the few festivals anywhere that gives equal exposure to both Hindustani (north Indian) and Carnatic (south Indian) music”
Financial Times
In a country where patriarchal mind-sets persist the rights of women have been placed at the centre of furious political debate, following the tragic death of a 23-year-old woman in Delhi. This year the Festival focuses on Indian women musicians, many of whom have been overshadowed by their male counterparts seldom get the acclaim they deserve. These pioneering ladies are breaking the mould and challenging the status quo as they seek to pursue careers as independent female musicians. The Darbar Festival is therefore leading the way to provide a platform for women in Indian classical music.
This year, Darbar welcomes to the stage some of the greatest Indian female musicians such as: Anumpama Bhagwat, one of India’s most fresh and heartfelt female sitar maestros; Manjusha Kulkarni-Patil, India’s most sought after virtuoso of the Agra and Gwalior Gharanas; and Jayanthi Kumaresh, indisputably the most highly prized Saraswati veena player in India. They will bring an alluring blend of poetry and music combined with fearsome improvisation.
Sandeep Virdee, Artistic Director of the Darbar Festival explains:
“Here in the UK we can programme the Festival free from the discrimination that most musicians face because of politics, caste, sex and religion back in India. We continue to expose brilliant new musicians to UK audiences.”
Highlights from the Festival include: one of India’s greatest intellectual tabla maestros Yogesh Samsi; the sitar phenomenon described as the sitar artist of the century Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee; the sarod maestro Usatd Wajahat Khan on the sarod; the most eminent singer in the South Indian devotional Carnatic tradition, Sudha Ragunathan: and India’s most sought after young virtuoso of the Agra and Gwalior Gharanas, Manjusha Kulkarni-Patil.
The word darbar refers to an audience chamber in the Maharaja’s court where guests assembled to listen to music, narrations and discussions. For four days in September, the Purcell Room will transform into a darbar where audiences will be immersed in the ageless and otherworldly sounds of Hindustani and Carnatic musical traditions, both vocal and instrumental. With its core value of cultural celebration, the Darbar Festival, is for the specialist and the newcomer alike.
Indian music has settings and functions for which there are no Western equivalents, occasions that relate to its curative, meditative and spiritual qualities. In a culture loaded with holistic associations, time and music are two parts of a marriage wherein certain ragas are allocated certain hours of the day – an association that the Festival’s schedule will observe in ‘Glorious Morning: Ragas Unwrapped’ (Saturday 10.00am) and ‘Enchanting Afternoon Ragas on 100 Strings’ (Saturday 2.30pm).
This music will be punctuated by talks that focus on the role of women in the Indian classical music tradition. On Saturday 21st at 12:45pm the award-winning musician and composer Jayanthi Kumaresh discusses the challenges of performing the Saraswati veena in the Carnatic tradition and her experiences of performing as a woman in a male-dominated classical music tradition. This will be followed by a talk given on Sunday 22nd at 12:45pm by one of India’s most experienced Carnatic vocalists, Sudha Ragunthan, about her life as a female musician and explains the role of women in Indian classical music. On Friday 20th at 12:45pm, Oliver Caske will be talking to Simon Broughton about the life and work of the legendary Indian classical music maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar in a tribute discussion that will be illustrated by photographs rarely seen by the public.
Darbar Arts Culture Heritage Trust
The Darbar Festival was started in 2006 by Sandeep Virdee - the founder of Darbar Arts Culture Heritage Trust - in memory of his father Gurmit Singh. The Trust presents concerts across the UK bringing Indian music to a wider audience. Since the 1960s when Ravi Shankar famously collaborated with Western musicians such as Yehudi Menuhin and the Beatles, there has been a growing interest in Indian music as heard in Bollywood films, whose roots go back to the Indian classical tradition. Although there is a growing curiosity for this tradition, it still remains underrepresented in concert venues across the globe.
Pandit Ravi Shankar (1920-2012)
Ravi Shankar, the legendary sitarist and composer was India's most esteemed musical Ambassador and a phenomenon in the classical music worlds of East and West. As a performer, composer, teacher and writer, he was the greatest pioneer of Indian classical music in the 20th century. He is well known for his trailblazing work in bringing Indian music to the West. Ravi Shankar wrote three concertos for sitar and orchestra, the last of which was completed in 2008. He also wrote violin-sitar compositions which he and Yehudi Menuhin performed together. He composed for flute virtuoso Jean Pierre Rampal, music for Hosan Yamamoto, master of the Shakuhachi and Musumi Miyashita - Koto virtuoso, and has collaborated with Phillip Glass. Ravi Shankar was an honourary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a member of the United Nations International Rostrum of composers. He received many awards and honours from his own country and from all over the world, including fourteen doctorates, the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan, Desikottam,Padma Bhushan of 1967, the Music Council UNESCO award 1975, the Magsaysay Award from Manila, two Grammy's, the Fukuoka grand Prize from Japan, the Polar Music Prize of 1998, the Crystal award from Davos, with the title 'Global Ambassador'. In 1986 Ravi Shankar was nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha, India's Upper House of Parliament.
The 2013 Festival
Thursday 19th
6.30pm – ‘Transposed Rhythm and the Saraswati Veena’
Bernhard Shimpelsberger drums
Sukhad Munde pakhawaj
Interval
Jayanthi Kumaresh saraswati veena
Patri Satish Kumar mridangam
RN Prakash ghatam
The Festival opens with a double bill concert of drums performed by Shimpelsberger to Indian rhythms together with Munde on the pakhawaj.
Friday 20th
12:45pm – ‘Tribute to Ravi Shankar’
Oliver Caske
Simon Broughton
Find out more about the life and times of this great Indian classical music maestro. Illustrated with photographs rarely seen by the general public.
2.30pm – ‘Great Improvisational Expectations’
Debashish Bhattacharya slide guitar
Yogesh Samsi tabla
The trendsetter Bhattacharya presents afternoon ragas through his virtuosity. He doesn’t believe in the difference between classical music from East and West, but sees it simply as universal. He is accompanied by one of India’s foremost tabla maestros, Samsi, who takes the improvisational accompaniment to dazzling heights.
6pm – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Saraswati Veena’
Jayanthi Kumaresh saraswati veena
Patri Satish Kumar mridangam
RN prakash ghatam
Jayanthi Kumaresh is the most highly prized Saraswati veena player in India – enjoy the traditional way to hear Saraswati veena.
6.30pm – ‘Colours of Dhrupad and the Majestic Sarod’
Nirmalya Dey dhrupad vocal
Sukhad Munde pakhawaj
Interval
Ustad Wajahat Khan sarod
Akram Khan tabla
Dhrupad predates the Hindustani and Carnatic traditions of today but sadly there are merely a handful of remaining practitioners making this concert a rare treat. Khan, belonging to a 400-year musical dynasty is a celebrated composer and sarod maestro. He performs ragas in the Imdadkhani Gharana style.
Saturday 21st
10.00am – ‘Glorious Morning: Ragas Unwrapped’
Manjusha Kulkarni-Patil khayal vocal
Tanmay Deochake harmonium
Akram Khan tabla
Manjusha Kulkarni-Patil is India’s most sought after young virtuoso of the Agra and Gwalior Gharanas. In her debut UK concert, she presents these morning ragas in her inmitable style which savours their expressive implications of the words, relishing their subtle shifts of rhythm to create a sighing quality.
10:15am – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Morning Sitar Recital’
Mehboob Nadeem sitar
Harkiret Bahra tabla
Mehboob Nadeem performs morning raga melodies in a rare mehfil-style concert.
2.30pm – ‘Enchanting Afternoon Ragas on 100 Strings
Harjinderpal Singh Matharu santoor
Yogesh Samsi tabla
Harjinderpal Singh Matharu performs mesmerising ragas on the santoor, an ancient string instrument that produces a beautiful trance-like sound, which Sufi mystics use as an accompanying instrument in their divine music.
6pm – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Rudra Veena’
Ustad Baha’uddin Dagar rudra veena
Sukhad Munde pakhawaj
An opportunity to hear Dagar, a 21st-generation musician and one of a handful in the world playing the rudra veena. The young maestro Munde accompanies him on the pakhawaj.
6.30pm – ‘Iconic Sitar to Mesmerising Carnatic Ragas’
Anupama Bhagwat sitar
Gurdain Rayatt table
Interval
Sudha Ragunathan carnatic vocal
Jyotsna Shrikanth violin
Patri Satish Kumar mridangam
RN Prakash ghatam
In her UK debut performance, Bhagwat plays the sitar with vigour that is the hallmark of her Imdadkhan Gharana. She is accompanied by Rayatt, the UK’s rising star of tabla.
Ragunathan, known for her enchanting voice, is the most eminent singer in the South Indian devotional Carnatic tradition. A trio of Carnatic heavy weights will accompany her.
Sunday 22nd
10.00am – ‘Morning Ragas: Sitar on Fire’
Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee sitar
Soumen Nandi tabla
The sitar phenomenon Mukherjee returns to the London stage after an absence of six years. With his bullet speed virtuosic ability, he has been described by the great veena maestro, S. Balachander, as the sitar artist of the century. Nandi makes his debut UK appearance accompanying Mukherjee.
10:15am – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Kirana Gharana Khayal’
Dr Vijay Rajput khayal vocal
Tanmay Deochake harmonium
Shahbaz Hussain tabla
Dr Rajput, a disciple of the illustrious North-Indian vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, is one of Britain’s most talented classical Indian vocalists. He returns to the Darbar Festival to perform poetic morning ragas.
12:45pm – ‘Where Are the Women?’
Sudha Ragunathan
Dharambir Singh MBE
One of India’s most experienced Carnatic vocalists Sudha Ragunathan talks vividly about her life as a female musician and explores the role of women in Indian classical music.
2.30pm – ‘Limitless Tabla, Punjab Style’
Yogesh Samsi tabla
Tanmay Deochake harmonium nagma
This long awaited tabla solo shows of the amazing versatility of this instrument through the hands of India’s great intellectual table maestros. Samsi’s sublime dexterity in manipulating time and tone through rhythmic patterns is exhilarating to witness. Deochake accompanies him on nagma.
6:00pm – ‘Rudra Veena to Magnificent Khayal’
Ustad Baha’uddin Dagar sitar
Sukhad Munde pakhawaj
Interval
Pandit Raghunandan Panshikar khayal vocal
Tanmay Deochake harmonium
The Dagar family dynasty is synonymous with Dhrupad. Dagar is noted for his control of the raga. The terrific young Munde accompanies on the pakhawaj. Panshikar presents evening ragas from the Jaipur Atruli Gharana, known for its beautiful and unusual ragas, and is accompanied by an array of stalwart musicians.
6pm – ‘Darbar Unplugged: Sitar & Tabla’
Aunpama Bhagwat sitar
Gurdain Rayatt tabla
One of India’s freshest female sitar maestros, Bhagwat, makes her debut visit to the UK. She is accompanied by leading UK tabla player Gurdain Rayatt.
www.southbankcentre.co.uk/darbarfestival
Southbank Centre Ticket Office: 0844 875 0073
Nicky Thomas Media Consultancy: Media relations for the Darbar Festival 2013
+44 7768 566530 or +4420 7207 7810
|info@nickythomasmedia.com| www.nickythomasmedia.com I twitter@ntmediauk
