5 Reasons to Listen to Indian Classical Music It’s no surprise that we at Darbar believe in the power of the Indian classical arts to thrill, stir and inspire a global audience....
In the centuries-old tradition of Indian classical music, few living legends can claim to have single-handedly made history. Pandit Shivkumar Sharma was one of those few. An exponent of the dulcimer-like santoor,...
A very gradual and long-drawn out evolution through complex historical and social factors eventually led to two distinct traditions associated with two different ethnicities. The people of North India are, broadly, defined...
Author: Jameela Siddiqi Ever since the talkies (films with sound) arrived in India; the first being Alam Ara in 1931 (pictured above), film music quickly established itself as the music of the...
The word tabla is thought to have its origins in the Arabic word tabl, which means any kind of drum. It was undoubtedly invented in India, although its early years are shrouded...
Darbar believes in the power of Indian classical music to stir, thrill, and inspire. Explore our YouTube channel or subscribe to the Darbar Player to watch extended festival performances, talks, and documentaries in pristine...
Behind the scenes with Darbar’s sound engineer Christoph Bracher With so many moving parts in an artform driven by extempore, spontaneous performance, orchestrating an Indian classical music concert is no small feat....
Musical Musing 3rd Edition Challenges of Returning to the New Normal As we gear up to deliver Darbar Festival 2022 (and are already deep in the planning stage for Darbar Festival 2023),...
The heart of qawwali with one of the most illustrious qawwals alive today “Is this Aysha-ji speaking?” The honeyed voice probes through static on my phone, dripping with a politeness it doesn’t...