“When I am silent, I fall into the place where everything is music.”
Rumi (1207-1273)
Tag Archives: North Indian classical music
Membership Raga Unlimited more than doubled in 2011
Raga Unlimited growth rate figures (click on picture to enlarge)
The LinkedIn-group that I run, Raga Unlimited, launched on 12 December 2008, has now 344 members. Anyone interested and registered on LinkedIn can join, that is, after (my) admission (don’t worry, there have been no refusals so far). A lot of knowledgeable people show up in the ranks. 37% works in the music industry and 16% is active in arts & design. In 2011 the group’s membership figure more than doubled, from 150 to 343, that’s an increase of 193 members in one year. Most people joined in May (28x), June (29x) and December (29x). Today, New Year’s Day 2012, I’ve already welcomed one more newbie, so we’re talking about a membership growth rate of 1 per day so far this year :).
The group’s ‘mission statement’ (click on picture to enlarge)
Feel free to join if you’re interested.
In the footsteps of Kumar Gandharva – ragasinger Pushkar Lele tours Holland & Belgium
A not to be missed concert tour of young ragasinger Pushkar Lele in The Netherlands and Belgium from 30 November to 6 December 2011. Pushkar Lele sings in the North Indian hindusthani tradition. Natural curiosity led him to follow in the footsteps of that great innovator of Indian vocal music, Kumar Gandharva. No imitator, however, he performs his own interpretations of ragas and bhajan poetry. Pushkar Lele’s vocal art will be accompanied by Sanjay Deshpande on tabla and Suyog Kundalkar on harmonium.
Tour schedule:
Antwerpen – Zuiderpershuis 30 nov. 20:30
Utrecht – Rasa 1 dec. 20:30
Amsterdam – Tropentheater 2 dec. 20:00
Den Haag – Regentes – 4 dec. 03:00 PM
Maasmechelen – Schouwburg Cultureel Centrum – 6 dec. 20:15
Film ‘Raga Unveiled’ sheds light on history and essence of the Hindustani classical musical system
The ambitious film Raga Unveiled, taking a look at the history and essence of the Hindustani classical musical system, has received a lot of praise. Will be screened on Sunday evening, 10 April 2011 at King’s Place in London, as a prelude to the Darbar Festival 2011, on 21 – 24 April 2011, at the same location. Here’s from YouTube a video to promote the film:
Raga playing on a piano? I don’t think so.
Watch the video below and ask yourself: is this raga-playing? I don’t think so. No ‘wavy notes’ here, a ‘first requirement’ in raga music. How to really expose a raag’s melodic material in detail if you can’t bend the notes in order to reveal the raag’s mood and character in all its nuances? And running parallel to this problem of execution is the tuning and scale-problem. Only a limited number of ragas is candidate for being ‘adapted’ to the piano. Otherwise: Utsav Lal is definitely very talented and I admire his playing and musical efforts.
24-hour raga-weekend of live concerts in Paris 27+28 sept. 2008
On Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 september 2008 the Cité de la Musique in Paris offers a unique 24 hour raga-weekend of live concerts, with evening and night raga’s in ‘une nuit’ on saturday and with morning and afternoon raga’s in ‘un jour’ on sunday. Some of today’s greatest hindusthani and carnatic artists are performing. There’ll be concerts by a.o. Sudha Ragunathan (vocal), Kaushiki Chakrabarty (vocal), Amjad Ali Khan (sarod), Shashank (bansuri) and the Gundecha Brothers (vocal). If you want to have a look at the complete programme, see: ‘la nuit du raga’ and ‘le jour du raga’.