Mondomix - Worldwide music and culture

  REGISTER     LOGIN

FR/EN/IT

OK

  

Darbar Festival

Classical Music from India
Beginning as a series of Vedic chants several thousand years ago, Indian music developed into one of the world's most complex systems of music. Kulbir Natt gives us his guide, ahead of the Darbar Festival 28 March-12 April 2009.

Darbar Festival

Classical Music from India
Beginning as a series of Vedic chants several thousand years ago, Indian music developed into one of the world's most complex systems of music. Kulbir Natt gives us his guide, ahead of the Darbar Festival 28 March-12 April 2009.

Darbar Festival

Classical Music from India
Beginning as a series of Vedic chants several thousand years ago, Indian music developed into one of the world's most complex systems of music. Kulbir Natt gives us his guide, ahead of the Darbar Festival 28 March-12 April 2009.

Darbar Festival

Classical Music from India
Beginning as a series of Vedic chants several thousand years ago, Indian music developed into one of the world's most complex systems of music. Kulbir Natt gives us his guide, ahead of the Darbar Festival 28 March-12 April 2009.




PUBLICITÉ


PHOTOS
video
Darbar Festival

Darbar International South Asian Music Festival


The Darbar Festival has been running since 2006 and is according to Songlines magazine “the UK’s premier festival of Indian classical music.” BBC Radio 3 says it is “a place where everyone expects and gets the highest quality performances.” Events run from 28 March-12 April, in all there are more than 50 artists and 35 concerts across the UK.

In 2009, the main festival takes place at London’s Southbank Centre on April 3-5. Over three-days audiences can immerse themselves in instrumental and vocal music from some of the finest musicians from across India. The festival presents 18 back-to-back concerts in a single auditorium. Each day performances begin at 10am and end late at night allowing people to hear rare ragas specific to particular times of the morning, afternoon and evening.

One of the extraordinary and unique features of the Darbar Festival is that all the international artists stay in the UK for the duration, attending each others concerts and creating a rare opportunity for artistic and personal exchange across traditions and generations.

The festival presents music from the Hindustani and Carnatic traditions, has more than 20 instruments including the rarely heard rabaab, originating from Afghanistan, and Jori percussion from Punjab. There is also a photographic exhibition of candid backstage artists’ shots and beautiful performance images from previous Darbar Festivals taken by international photographer Arnhel de Serra.

Beyond London, there is a two-day festival at Leicester’s Curve and concerts at The Sage Gateshead, Dewsbury, Birmingham and Nottingham. And the “Darbar Unplugged” concert at Cobham’s Yehudi Menuhin Hall presents acoustic sessions where audiences get a chance to hear the music the way it was in the great Mughal courts.

Traditionally, a ‘darbar’ (from the Persian, meaning ‘royal court’) has been the place where the Indian aristocracy were entertained by music and dance. Darbar Festival aims to re-create this atmosphere not just by bringing in top class musicians but also in the many cultural nuances inherent in the Indian classical music tradition itself (manners and etiquette for performers and listeners, respect and deference towards elders in seeking their permission before beginning a recital).

The stage itself is set as a ‘darbar’ with subdued orange and red lighting; a sculpted backdrop reminiscent of the splendours of the honey-coloured forts; carved elephants standing guard on the corners of the stage and sumptuous cushions resting on rich ochre-coloured cloths.

 

Darbar Festival events summary – full listings at www.darbar.org.uk

March

Sat 28 DEWSBURY TOWN HALL
  7pm Aruna Sairam (Carnatic vocal)

Sun 29 HARROW SCHOOL
  6.30pm Aruna Sairam (Tamil concert)

Sun 29 BHARATA VIDYA BHAVAN West Kensington
  6pm Anuradha Pal (Tabla Solo)

April

Weds 1 THE SAGE GATESHEAD
  7pm Concert 1: Ganesh & Kumaresh (carnatic violin) / Concert 2: Rahul Sharma (santoor)

Weds 1 NEW ART EXCHANGE, NOTTINGHAM
  7.30pm Rupak Kulkarni (flute)

Weds 1 NISHKAM CENTRE, BIRMINGHAM
  7.30pm Jesse Bannister (saxophone)

Fri 3 PURCELL ROOM, SOUTHBANK CENTRE, LONDON
  10am Concert 1: Harmeet Virdee (sitar) / Concert 2: Rahul Sharma (santoor)
  2.30pm Concert 1: Audience with Somjit Das Gupta / Concert 2: Jesse Bannister (saxophone)
  6.30pm Concert 1: Somjit Das Gupta (rabaab) / Concert 2: Aruna Sairam (carnatic vocal)

Sat 4
  10am Concert 1: UK artists carnatic performance / Concert 2: Ashwini Bhide (khayal vocal)
  2.30pm Concert 1: Audience with Shashank Subramanium / Concert 2: Ganesh & Kumaresh (carnatic violin)
  6.30pm Concert 1: Wasifuddin Dagar (dhrupad vocal) / Concert 2: Pandit Tejendra Majumdar (sarod)

Sun 5
  10am Concert 1: Dr Vijay Rajput (khayal vocal) / Concert 2: Purbayan & Shashank (sitar & carnatic flute)
  2.30pm Concert 1: Audience with Wasifuddin Dagar / Concert 2: Rupak Kulkarni (flute)
  6.30pm Concert 1: Aniruddha Bhattacharya (khayal vocal) / Concert 2: Pandit Kumar Bose (tabla solo)

Sun 5 QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL, SOUTHBANK CENTRE, LONDON
  5pm Concert 1: Tablature! / Concert 2: Tabla and Mridangam percussion / Concert 3: Nina Virdee’s Urban Love

Tues 7 YEHUDI MENUHIN HALL, COBHAM
  8pm Purbayan Chatterjee – Sitar & Pandit Kumar Bose – Tabla

Sat 11 CURVE, LEICESTER
  7pm Concert 1: Hary Kumar Siva (Electric violin) / Concert 2: Nina Virdee – ‘Urban Love’

Sun 12
  1pm Concert 1: Rupinder Panesar (sitar) / Concert 2: Rahul Sharma (santoor)
  7pm Concert 1: Ashwini Bhide (vocal) / Concert 2: Purbayan & Shashank (sitar & carnatic flute)



Comments  Bookmark and Share





// ALSO





Mondomix - The essential online resource for worldwide music and culture. Music, cinema, literature, society, travel, events, reports, artists. Experience the world with Mondomix.
All rights reserved. Copy prohibited © 1998 - 2009   Mondomix Media