Previous Shows
2005-2006

Brij Narayan
Sarod

7 p.m.
October 14, 2005
Orleans Theatre, 255 Centrum Boulevard
Ottawa

Pandit Brij Narayan is probably the finest sarod player of the younger generation. As the son of the acknowledged sarangi master, Pandit Ram Narayan, Brij Narayan fell in love with the sarod at age four, at a concert by the great maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. He started his music lessons as a toddler under his father and his uncle Pandit Chatur Lal, the tabla wizard. His keen sense of rhythm is attributed to his association with the latter. 

At age eight, Brij Narayan started learning the techniques of the sarod from the great Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. His first public performance was at age 12 in the Sapru House, Delhi, accompanied on the tabla by his uncle. The concert was attended by the likes of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pt Ravi Shankar and of course, Pandit Ram Narayan. After Ustad Ali Akbar Khan left India for foreign shores, Brij Narayan learnt music from his father, his true guru. 

In 1967, the fifteen year old Brij Narayan stunned the nation after being judged the finest instrumentalist in the prestigious All India Radio Music Competition and was unanimously named a scholar of the Bharatiya Sangeet Sabha. In his European debut in 1972, Pt. Brij Narayan mesmerised the German and international audience at the Munich Olympics. 

After his graduation from Bombay University in 1972, Brij devoted himself fully towards shaping his career as a Sarod artist. He has developed and perfected an authoritative and masterly style, a style that is influenced by various features of Pandit Ram Narayan's Sarangi treatment, such as his taan sequences, and blended with some features of the sarod playing of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Over the years, Brij has emerged as an outstanding contemporary musician, appreciated for his seriousness of approach in dealing with raga subjects. He has travelled widely as a concert artist to all the leading music centers in India and overseas to Europe, North America and Australia and the Middle East.

Purnima Chaudhuri
Vocal

7 p.m.
November 19, 2005
Orleans Theatre, 250 Centrum Boulevard
Ottawa

Light classical vocalist, Vidhusi Purnima Chaudhuri of Kolkata was initiated into music by Pandit A Kanan and was later rigorously trained by Mahadev Prasad Mishra and Girija Devi, both of the Banaras gharana. She has carved a niche for herself as a distinguished exponent of Thumri, Dadra,Tappa etc of the rich Purab ang and Banarasi style. She has received the prestigious Senior Fellowship from the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, and was conferred the title of Surmani by the Sursringar Samsad of Bombay. She has participated in prestigious national music festivals and has also performed and given lecture-demonstrations widely in the USA and Europe. She has participated in National programmes for radio and television and also has several CDs and cassettes to her credit. 

She will be accompanied by Pandit Ramesh Misra on the sarangi and  Subhajyoti Guha on the tabla. 

To hear a sample of Purnima Chaudhuri's music, click here