Darbar 2016: Indian classical music fest to welcome Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and unique East-West collaboration

September 13 2016

Europe’s largest Indian classical annual music festival begins this week…and as a host of stars head to these shores, we speak to a very special talent…

HE IS NOT SO MUCH a musician but a legend – and one of the foremost practitioners of Indian classical music time has ever witnessed.

Ustad (a term of veneration) Amjad Ali Khan heads to Europe’s largest celebration of Indian classical music, Darbar (September 16-18), for the first time.

The great musician (pictured right) took time out from his hectic touring schedule to talk to www.asianculturevulture.com about the state of Indian classic music and what it means for him to be a part of a centuries old tradition. You can read the interview HERE.

The Delhi-based master will play a special double bill at Darbar and will be accompanied by both his wife and two sons, Amaan and Ayaan, who also both play the sarod. This is an ancient instrument believed to have been adapted from a rabaab, which first originated in ancient Persia and Afghanistan among horsemen there.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is descended from a long line of musicians and a family that was close to royals of Gwalior and first delighted and enchanted the royal court there.

Not only will fans get a chance to hear him and his sons play, but they will also get an opportunity to quiz the great master and speak to his wife, Subhalakshmi – herself an acclaimed Bharatanatyam dancer and artist in her own right.

Both will appear in a special lunchtime conversation session at Darbar on Saturday (September 17).

The double bill concert on Sunday features Ustad Khan playing with the ‘Kings of Tabla’, as Pandit Kumar Bose and Pandit Anindo Chatterjee make their UK debuts.

Among the other the highlights this year are “Universal Notes” – which will bring two great traditions together in what is billed as a ground-breaking collaboration.

The Philharmonia Orchestra have been involved in a year long partnership with Darbar to develop this unique music. It is not ‘fusion’ and the project has brought together Matthew Barley (cello & artistic director of The Philharmonia) and two great Indian masters of their art – Niladri Kumar on sitar and Rakesh Chaurasia on bansuri together for Darbar’s spectacular opening concert on Friday.

Vocalist Aruna Sairam graces the festival and marks a return to her festival appearance in 2009. She will be joined by Jayanthi Kumaresh, one of India’s finest Saraswati veena players. She specialises in Carnatic music, a tradition that developed quite separately from its north Indian counterpart, Hindustani.

The first part of the concert will also feature mridangam and ghatam instruments and the second part of the bill sees the Darbar debut for vocalists Pandit Ranjan and Pandit Sajan. They are leading exponents of the Benares gharana (school of music).

Sriram and Kumaresh will also discuss the position of Indian women within Indian classical music. In previous times, women were not always taken seriously as artists and were discouraged from learning. The duo will be joined by Shubha Mudgal. She is a vocalist of extraordinary range and intensity and is part of the double bill featuring Ustad Khan, for Sunday’s closing concert.

There are also a host of other attractions – including free concerts along the Southbank Centre venues.

The festival starts informally at Friday lunchtime (1pm) with “Magic of Afternoon Ragas” in the central bar area of the Royal Festival Hall (RFH). Sitar player Harmeet Virdee and Gurdain Rayatt on tabla will open the three-day musical extravaganza.

Later one of the best known westerners – Bernard Schimpelsberger, who has worked with the likes of Anoushka Shankar, Talvin Singh, and Nitin Sawhney continues the vibe with “Rhythm Diaries by Bernard Schimpelsberger”. It starts at 5.30pm in the central bar at the RFH and he will play for around 90 minutes.

The festival was first founded in 2006 and set up in the memory of Bhai Gurmit Singh Ji Virdee, who was devoted to musical instruction as a tabla teacher and was a significant player in the UK Indian classical music scene. His son Sandeep Virdee is the founder of Darbar and its artistic director and now works full time on curating the festival, afer a career in accountancy.

He said: “Now that the Darbar Festival is part of UK’s cultural diary it gives audiences a chance to fully immerse themselves into India’s greatest art form right here in London, something that they would only achieve if they travelled to three major cities in India.”

It rountinely brings musicians from the Carnatic as well as the Hindustani traditions to London. ‘Darbar’ means gathering/audience and was popular pasttime in the royal courts of India.

Picture: (Clockwise from top left) Kumar Bose; Rajan and Sajan; Niladri Kumar; Shuba Mudgal; Roopa Panesar; Aruna Sriram; Rakesh Chaurasia; Ustad Amjad Ali Khan; Jayanthi Kumaresh

Interview Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

For full listings/more info and ticket details, please visit: http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/darbar-festival-2016

Previously

Woman of Substance – Jayanthi Kumaresh veena magic