SRA Music Circle Presentation (June 2004)

SRA Music Circle members were invited to an evening of pleasurable listening on Sunday 27th June 2004. The programme began with a vocal music recital by Ruchira Kale, a disciple of Pt Ulhas Kashalkar. She began with a vilambit teentala kheyal in raga Shuddh Kalyan ‘Eri maai piya’, which she ably developed. Moving on to drut teentaal, she sang a bandish composed by the late Pt. Nivrutti Bua Sarnaik, ‘Neend na aavat’. Ruchira sang in the Gwalior gharana style and the clarity and variations in her taans reminded listeners of her illustrious guru. Gopal Mishra and Rupashree Bhattacharya accompanied her on the tabla and harmonium respectively.

This was followed by a sitar recital by Debaprasad Chakraborty. A student of the late Shri Ajoy Sinha Roy, Debaprasad belongs to the famed Senia Maihar Gharana. Playing raga Mian ki Malhar, he amply demonstrated his sensitivity while unfolding the komal gandhar and the two nishads of the raga in his alap, jod and jhala. His virtuosity reached greater heights during his vilambit gat in dhamar taal, in which he flawlessly executed several tihaais. He then played a drut gat in teentala. Samar Saha gave him excellent tabla support.

The concluding item that evening was a vocal recital by Amit Mukerjee, Executive Director, ITC SRA, who trained under Shankar Majumdar, disciple of the late Ustad Amir Khan. Singing raga Megh, he began with a vilambit kheyal in jhoomra taal and went on to present a tarana in teentaal composed by the late Ustad Amir Khan. The resonance in his voice and the knowledgeable development of the raga were a treat for the listeners. He concluded his recital with a teentaal bandish in raga Gaud Malhar ‘Aayi badra kari kari’. Ananda Gopal Bandopadhyay provided tabla support while Jyoti Goho played the harmonium.

Rhythm Workshop (June 2004)

Rhythm cycles (taal), tempo (laya) and metre (chhanda) have always been an integral part of Indian classical music and in recent years the tabla has gained popularity amongst the young and old. Renowned tabla exponent Shankar Ghosh conducted a two-day workshop at ITC Sangeet Research Academy on June 4th and 8th. Concentrating on variations in rhythm, he demonstrated aar (3/2 matras), kuaar (5/4 matras) and biaar (7/4 matras) and ensured that the students practice these variations using the seven notes.

He also discussed numerous tihaais including lapetang, bedam and damdaar While aiming to explain the mathematics behind taal, he said that in order to gain confidence, students needed to appreciate the importance of the anumatras or microbeats of any taal. Reiterating the importance of understanding taal, he explained a simple formula by which tihaais could be easily calculated.

Those who attended the workshop will undoubtedly be better equipped at introducing rhythmic variations into their singing styles.

February 2004 : ITC-SRA unfolds global vision for propagating Indian classical music abroad

The ITC Sangeet Research Academy (ITC-SRA is now, during its Silver Jubilee celebrations, beginning to transform itself into a global institution propagating the riches of Indian Classical Music.

The Executive Director of ITC-SRA, Mr Amit Mukerjee, has announced ITC-SRA’s plans to introduce vocal Hindustani Classical Music to Western cultural institutes. The West has historically been much more familiar with instrumental music. Perhaps as a result of that familiarity, today Western audiences are extremely keen to listen to, and discerningly appreciate Indian Classical Music.

To quench this deep Western thirst for Indian Classical Music, ITC-SRA is planning to take its Gurus to conduct workshops and seminars, and hold lecture-demonstrations in the top musical institutions in Europe. The ITC Sangeet Research Academy will also facilitate cross-cultural exchange programmes with these institutes, between scholars of Western music and scholars of Indian Classical Music.

The Academy has already organised seminars and workshops on Indian Classical Music in Tubingen University, a renowned centre of Indology and musicology, Stuttgart University and Rotterdam Conservatory, among others.

As a part of ITC-SRA’s mission to go beyond vocal Hindustani Classical Music, the Academy introduced training in Sarode and Sitar two years ago. This has already started yielding very rewarding results. The Academy has now also formulated plans to revive the dying art of playing the ‘Sarangi’. There are very few ‘Sarangi’ exponents today. The Academy will identify young ‘Sarangi’ aspirants and teach them the fine art.

ITC-SRA is also keen to expose its students and scholars to modern technology. The technical and the musical quality of a recital improve dramatically if musicians are well versed with the intricacies of modern sound engineering technology. The Academy’s students are being exposed to the software of sound engineering through hours of hands-on exposure to ITC-SRA’s in-house digital recording facilities.

ITC-SRA also plans to sharpen its focus on research into the rich traditions of Indian Classical Music. ITC and ITC-SRA have also undertaken a major project to fully digitise and carefully preserve the precious recordings of Hindustani Classical Music recitals housed in ITC-SRA's archives. The aim is to enable musicians, musicologists, scholars and connoisseurs of Indian Classical Music around the world readily access India’s musical heritage.

In 1990, under a grant from the Ford Foundation, USA, ITC-SRA bagged a prestigious assignment to collect and collate musical data from the living and learned musicians of different gharanas. The successful completion of this project has created, in ITC-SRA, a priceless repertoire of documented knowledge on Hindustani Classical Music. There are detailed interviews with 41 great musicians belonging to different gharanas. More than 5000 musical compositions have been put down in black and white. There are also nearly 1000 hours of precious musical recordings. The Academy has now taken up the second phase of the project, which entails editing and notating these compositions.

As a part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations, ITC-SRA plans to hold ITC Mini Sangeet Sammelans in Lucknow, Kanpur, Jodhpur, Dombivilli and Karad. ITC Mini Sangeet Sammelans have already been held in Raipur, Digboi and Agartala. A special Holi Sammelan is also being organised in Kolkata. Two more major ITC Sangeet Sammelans, to be held in Mumbai and Hyderabad, are also on the cards, to celebrate ITC-SRA’s 25th anniversary.

Ford Foundation Gharana Project

Under the Ford Foundation Gharana project, the famous Dhrupad singers, the Gundecha Brothers of Bhopal and Ustad Aslam Khan Niyazi of Mumbai were invited to record compositions (bandishes) of their respective gharanas. While the Gundecha Brothers recorded twenty-two bandishes, Ustad Aslam Khan recorded as many as one hundred and seventy one compositions in the khayal style.

Gurus at the Academy

Former ITC SRA guru, Girija Devi of the Banaras Gharana has rejoined the Academy from November 1, 2003 after a short stint as Visiting Professor at Banaras Hindu University.

Shruti Sadolikar, an exponent of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana has joined the Academy as a visiting guru from November 18, 2003.