Friday, September 25, 20098:00 p.m.

Anderson Center Chamber HallPROGRAM

Note: Indian musicians choose pieces on the spur of the moment based upon the time of day and the particular mood they wish to emphasize. Here is a general outline for tonight’s performance:

The instrumental performance tonight features an extensive opening solo sarod sequence known as Ālāp-Jor-Jhālā. The ālāp is an unmetered improvisation that demonstrates the scale, mood, and musical rules of the raga. Normally musicians begin at the mid range of their instrument, and slowly descend to the lowest notes. Then the ālāp progresses all the way up to the highest octave on the instrument, and then back down to the middle range.

In the next section, the jor, the musician introduces a sense of pulsation through the extensive plucking of a set of 3 drone strings (cikārī), in alternation with strokes on the melody strings.

The final part of the opening sequence, jhālā, is a climactic section featuring extensive strumming of the drone strings often using sixteenth notes and building up speed to a thunderous climax. Depending on the skill and mood of the performer, this completely extemporaneous opening sequence can last from 10-40 minutes (sometimes longer).

Following the above opening sequence, the artist will play one or more instrumental compositions known as gat. Gat are precomposed melodies that are thoroughly developed using extensive improvised runs that return to the main theme. Gat are in a tala cycle, and at this point in the performance the tabla drummer will enter, often with a rhythmic cadence timed to end on the first beat of the tala cycle. Often the sitar and tabla will trade rhythmic combinations in a playful question and answer style. Normally an artist will choose from slow, medium, and fast speed gats in the same raga, although they may employ different tala cycles.

Subsequent to the full performance of the chosen raga, the artist will choose one or more shorter pieces drawn from folk music, devotional hymns, or from various ‘light’ classical genres to conclude the program.

HINDUSTANI CLASSICAL MUSIC

The origins of Indian classical music can be traced to the Vedas, a set of four texts that comprise the foundation of the Hindu religion, and were passed down orally until around 1500 BC when they began to be written down. The texts comprise hymns, which not only aided memorization, but also provide the foundation of Indian music. In the first few centuries AD, the sage Bharata compiled a treatise on music, dance, and theatre that provided the theoretical foundations for future directions in Indian composition. Bharata outlined the organization of rhythm and meter into cycles made up of groupings of beats now referred to as tala. Every composition is set to a particular tala cycle made up of stressed and unstressed beats. Knowledgeable audience members may externalize the tala by a system of claps (tali) representing the strong beats, and waves (khali) representing the weak beats.

Bharata also formulated the concept of raga, which is the melodic system underlying Hindustani music. A raga consists of a scale, as well as a set of musical rules governing choice and emphasis of pitches, melodic motion, and ornamentation. A raga can also be associated with certain times of day and/or seasons of the year. Bharata related each raga to a specific rasa, or emotion, such as love, humor, anger, compassion, valor, wonder, or fear. The term raga means color – a raga should color the mind and stimulate listeners to emotional awareness of its feeling. After the writings of Bharata, wandering monks began composing sacred hymns, known as bhajans, using the raga and tala cycles formulized by Bharata. These sacred hymns provide the source for many contemporary Indian classical compositions.

From this common historical origin, classical music in India has gradually become divided geographically into Northern (Hindustani) and Southern (Karnatik) traditions since the 13th century AD. The source of this diversion was the occupation of Northern India by successive waves of Muslim conquerors including Persian, Turkish, Arab, and Central Asian peoples. During the successive reigns of these Muslim dynasties, Northern India came to adopt and adapt several instruments, styles, and techniques from Persian and Arabic music. Hindustani classical music, as we know it today, took shape in the 16th century AD in the courts of the Mughal emperors as Hindu musicians began to seek employment as court musicians. At the Mughal courts, Hindu musicians mixed with Persian musicians, and they began to develop a hybrid of both musical traditions. They also began to intermarry, and many contemporary Hindustani musicians have Persian surnames.

Through time, certain families of court composers established gharana, or stylistic schools of performance and interpretation. Eventually these schools took on talented students from outside the family, spreading the influence of these previously local styles. During the British colonization of India (1850-1947), many of the courts were dissolved and musicians shifted their performances to the concert stage, where it can now be enjoyed by all.

ABOUT THE INSTRUMENTS

Tanpura/Sruti boxTanpura is a long-necked lute, unfretted and round-bodied. It has four or five wire strings that are open plucked one after the other to create a steady drone ambiance. The strings are normally tuned to the 1st and 5th

scale degrees of the raga. The tanpura articulates a constant drone, to melodically frame the monophonic improvisations of the musicians. Nowadays, this instrument is commonly replaced by an electronic device, called sruti box, which is portable and easier to travel with.

Sarod The Sarod, along with the sitar, is the most popular and prominent instrument in Hindustani Classical music. The sarod originated in Afghanistan, from a similar instrument called the rebab. Immigrant musicians brought it to the courts of Northern India in the late 1700s. It is made of carved teak wood, with the resonator covered with goatskin and the fingerboard covered with polished nickel. It has up to 25 strings, 10 of which are plucked by a coconut shell pick; the other 15 strings run below the playing strings and are sounded by the vibrations from the plucked strings above them. This gives the sarod a shimmering sound, as each plucked note vibrates the 15 strings below. The lack of frets and the tension of the strings makes it very technically demanding to play, as the strings must be pressed hard against the fingerboard. Normally the musician uses the tips of the fingernails to press the strings, allowing them to ring out, and also permitting the liberal use of slides up and down the neck. The descent of the sarod from the lute family of Persian–Afghani instruments makes it a distant relative to the European lute.

Tabla The tabla set is the principle percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical, religious, and film musics. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres. The smaller drum, played with the dominant hand, is made from a conical piece of wood and is often called tabla. One of its primary tones is tuned to a specific note of the raga, and thus contributes to and complements the melody. The larger drum, played with the other hand, is called bāyān and is made of metal. It covers a lower range than the other drum. The playing technique for both drums involves extensive use of the fingers and palms in various configurations to create a wide variety of different sounds. On the bāyān, the heel of the hand is also used to apply pressure, in a sliding motion, so that the pitch is changed during the sound's decay.

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS

Internationally acclaimed performer, Rajeev Taranath is one of the world's leading exponents of the Sarod. A distinguished disciple of Maestro Ali Akbar Khan, his performances masterfully combine the depth and rigor of the tradition of Hindustani classical music with an inspired imagination and emotional intensity.

Hailed a prodigy in Hindustani vocal music, he had been earlier trained by his father Pandit Taranath and other eminent musicians and was a concert and radio artist before he was twenty.

Rajeev has toured extensively as a performer in India, Australia, Europe, Yemen and throughout the U.S. He has also composed music for several nationally and internationally honored Indian films. He is the recipient of the Indian Government's highest award in the arts, the Sangeet Natak Academi Award for 1999-2000, given in recognition of outstanding achievement in the field of Hindustani Instrumental music. In 1998 he received the prestigious national Award, 'Chowdiah Award for Music' from the Government of Karnataka in India for excellence in the field of instrumental music. He has also received awards from the Indian State Government of Karnataka for his contribution to music - the Sangeet Nritya Akademi Award in 1993 and the Karnataka Rajya Prashasti in 1996. In 1980, he was the subject of a documentary made for the television in Eden, Yemen, entitled Finnan Min-Al-Hind (Artist from India).

Rajeev Taranath's distinctive musicianship demonstrates striking imaginative power, technical excellence and emotional range. He is respected for the clarity of musical understanding which he brings to the unfolding of a raga and the beauty of the tone he evokes from the sarod. The New York Times (April 14, 1982) described his music by commenting with great enthusiasm about the exuberance and versatility of his playing, which ranged from the spiritual to the spirited.

Rajeev was a Ford Foundation scholar (1989 to 1992) and researched during this period on the Teaching Techniques of the Maihar-Allauddin Gharana. Rajeev has also received guidance from Pandit Ravi Shankar and Shrimati Annapurna Devi. From 1995-2005 he was a member of the music department faculty at the prestigious California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles, California.

Rajeev Taranath frequently performs and tours throughout India and internationally with concert engagements for major Indian music conferences, Universities, western chamber music series, world music festivals and Indian cultural organizations dedicated to the presentation of high caliber Indian classical music.

Nitin Mitta is one of the most sought after young tabla players of our generation with rare technical virtuosity and sensitivity. He has performed worldwide with some of India's most celebrated and honored musicians - such as Pt. Jasraj, Dr. Prabha Atre, Pt. Rajan Sajan Mishra, Pt.Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Smt. Veena Sahasrabudhe and Pt. Budhaditya Mukherjee just to name a few. Nitin received his early training in Hyderabad from Pandit G. Satyanarayana. In his years as a tabla-student, he won many accolades, including the first prize in the All India Competition held in Calcutta. He was also awarded a National Scholarship by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Central Govt. His passion for rhythm and his desire to enhance his repertoire of tabla-compositions, lead him to seek the guidance of Pandit Arvind Mulgaonkar. Both of Nitin's Gurus are disciples of the late Ustad Amir Hussain Khan Saheb, legendary doyen of the Farukhabad Gharana. Nitin has thus received two perspectives upon a single tradition and he has enriched his inheritance through his own capacity for assimilation and interpretation.

On moving to the United States in 2002, Nitin received a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on Arts. He has been on the Faculty at the Learn Quest Academy of Music in Waltham, MA. Now a resident of New York City, he is actively involved in teaching, performing, recording, and conducting tabla workshops. He has recently performed at venues like The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rubin Museum of Art, The Asia Society, and The Indian Embassy in New York and The Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. He has also conducted lecture-demonstrations and performed at Brown University, MIT, Harvard, UC Berkeley, U Penn, The University of Chicago and Drury University. Nitin has performed in some of the major festivals and venues in India, the U.S. and in Canada, Germany, France, England, Ireland, Finland, Sri Lanka and the Baltic countries - Lithuania, Belarus, and Vilnius. He has performed at the Purcell Room, London and the India culture centre, Berlin. In India, he has performed at some of the most prestigious music festivals and venues, including The Pt. Motiram and Pt. Maniram Sangeeth Samaroh, Hyderabad, The Pt. Radhika Mohan Moitra Music conference, Kolkatta, Music Academy, Chennai, SPICMACAY, The St. Xavier's' IMG Music Festival, Mumbai, Surya Festival, Trivandrum, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi and the Nehru Centre, Mumbai.

His performance in the musical album entitled "Soul Strings" released by Music Today has been widely appreciated. To learn more about Nitin, visit his website at www.NitinMitta.org.

Binghamton University Music Department’s

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, October 1st Mid-Day Concert, 1:20 PM – FREECasadesus Recital Hall

Thursday, October 8th Mid-Day Concert, 1:20 PM – FREECasadesus Recital Hall

Friday, October 9th African Dance-Drumming Workshop with Kwadzo Tagborlo and Pierrette Aboadji, 1:00 – 3:00 PM, FA 104, FREE

Friday, October 9th 3-Penny Opera with the Theatre Department and University Symphony Orchestra, 8:00 PM, Watters Theater, $$

Saturday, October 10th African Dance-Drumming Workshop with Kwadzo Tagborlo and Pierrette Aboadji, 1:00 – 3:00 PM, Africa House, 50 Washington Avenue, Endicott, NY, FREE

Saturday, October 10th 3-Penny Opera with the Theatre Department and University Symphony Orchestra, 8:00 PM, Watters Theater, $$

Thursday, October 15th Mid-Day Concert, 1:20 PM – FREECasadesus Rectal Hall

Friday, October 16th 3-Penny Opera with the Theatre Department and University Symphony Orchestra, 8:00 PM, Watters Theater, $$

Saturday, October 17th 3-Penny Opera with the Theatre Department and University Symphony Orchestra, 8:00 PM, Watters Theater, $$

Saturday, October 17th Paul Taylor Dance Company with the Binghamton University Symphony Orchestra, 8:00 PM, Osterhout Concert Theater, $$

Sunday, October 18th 3-Penny Opera with the Theatre Department and University Symphony Orchestra, 2:00 PM, Watters Theater, $$

For ticket information, please call the Anderson Center Box Office at 777-ARTS.