Previous Shows

2007

Rashid Khan - Vocal
Satish Vyas - Santoor
Meeta Pandit - Vocal
Ranajit Sengupta - Sarod

Rashid Khan
Vocal

7 p.m.
April 11, 2007
Orleans Theater

Ustad Rashid Khan’s mastery of all aspects tonal variations, dynamics and timbre adjustment leave very little to be desired in the realm of voice culture. A notable achievement of Ustad Rashid Khan is the infusion of an emotional content into his melodic elaboration. This was generally considered to be lacking in the styles of the older artists. The older ustads, being essentially court singers, put the emphasis on polished technique, skillful execution of difficult passages and the power to astound with their musicianship. The Nawabs and Mahrajas and their courtiers who were their prime audience found these things more interesting and did not bother about emotional appeal. For the khayal to them was classical art song and emotional appeal was not an important requisite for this type of music. After independence and especially in the second half of the 20th century, classical music, including khayal and thumri, were the most popular forms and were patronized by audiences from the middle and upper-middle class segments of the society. The modern listener thus tended to find Mushtaq Hussain or even Nissar Hussain rather dry for their taste. As a result these singers were not as popular as certain contemporaries who infused emotions into the the khayal. With the entry of Rashid Khan the tables have been turned and the spontaneous emotional appeal of his manner of singing, be it in the melodic elaboration or in the upper octave pukars, have won him enthusiastic listeners and followers the world over. 

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Satish Vyas
Santoor

7:30 p.m.
June 8, 2007
Orleans Theater
255 Centrum Boulevard

Pandit Satish Vyas, a renowned Santoor Maestro of India blessed with a formidable musical background and training, thanks to both his father and his guru, has build an outstanding reputation as a soloist on the Santoor (hammered dulcimer). His first fortune was to be born the son of Padma Bhushan Late Pandit C. R. Vyas, one of the most respected vocalists on the Indian music scene, a fine and highly knowledgeable performer who was the young Satish's first teacher. His second was to be accepted as a disciple by the great Padma Vibhushan Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma - a man so identified with his instrument that classical Indian santoor playing is unthinkable without Shiv Kumar Sharma's contribution to the art. Satish Vyas is currently perhaps the best known and the most accomplished classical santoor player after Shivji himself.Pandit Satish Vyas has been a regular concert artist for the last two decades or so, performing and recording all over India and the world, more extensively in the USA, UK & Europe, Japan and Australasia. He has contributed materially in popularising the Santoor in remote places, not only performing in small villages and towns in India but abroad as well, in addition to major city centres.

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Meeta Pandit
Vocal

7:30 p.m.
August 10, 2007
Orleans Theatre
255 Centrum Boulevard

Acknowledged as the scion of the Gwalior musical gharana, Meeta Pandit is acclaimed as one of the most promising young musicians of today. Rooted in the traditional eight fold style of singing (ashtang gayaki), Meeta excels in the exposition, elaboration and interpretation of the intricate patterns of Ragas of the Khayal style, with all the variations, modulations and split second precisions. Acknowledged musicians of the day have been generous in their praise for her music. She has emerged as a shining star in the world of classical music: her melodious and robust voice coupled with intricate handling of ragas has won her admirers - young and the old alike. A film on her titled 'Meeta Pandit - Linking a Tradition with Today' was made by PSBT in 2004. Samples of her music can be found here

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Ranajit Sengupta
Sarod

7:30 p.m.
September 14, 2007
Orleans Theatre
255 Centrum Boulevard

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