Department of Music

• Masterclass - Friday, April 19, 2013
  Concert - Saturday, April 20, 2013
• 107 Old Cabell
  Chemistry 402
• 6:30pm
  8:00pm
• Free
  Free

The University of Virginia’s chapter of the Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth (SPICMACAY) is proud to present internationally acclaimed sarod master Rajeev Taranath in a mesmerizing concert of Hindustani Classical Music. Taranath will be accompanied by brilliant tabla player Abhiman Kaushal.

The concert is free and open to the public. Free Indian snacks will be offered before the concert.

Please join us for this special event!

On the day prior to the concert, the McIntire Department of Music will host sarod master Rajeev Taranath and tabla artist Abhiman Kaushal for a short performance-oriented course on the fundamentals of Indian Classical instrumental music. The performance aspect of the class is structured around a theoretical framework that includes the concepts of raga (modal structure) and tala (rhythmic cycle).  Students focus on learning the modes of improvisation and participate in adetailed practical study of at least two ragas.  The teaching method relies heavily on imitation.  Students imitate the teacher as they explore and develop ragas together. Several set compositions are taught and used as bases for improvisation.

Discussion and presentation by Taranath will involve cultural and historical aspects of the music and will include his own experiences in the field as a performer, student and master musician. He will shed light on the change in Indian classical music in the last 75 years, with its role within a feudal culture and the contemporary music scene, in which more may participate but also one in which more commercial forces may operate.

Musicians and non-musicians are welcome!

Born into a highly creative family from Bangalore, India, Rajeev Taranath began studying music, singing and poetry with his father at a very early age. As a teenager, he attended a concert featuring classical Indian music that would forever change his life and artistic path. Under the tutelage of esteemed maestro and teacher Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Taranath became dedicated to thesarod, the lyrical, deeply resonant relative of the lute. Today, nearly 40 years later,Taranath is considered one of India's top classical instrumentalists and his performances masterfully combine the depth and rigor of traditional Hindustani classical music with inspired imagination and emotional intensity. For this, Taranath has received wide acclaim, including the Indian Government’s highest honor for the classical performing arts, the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award.

Currently living in Mysore, India, Taranath travels worldwide both teaching and performing. Over his expansive career, his concerts have included performances at major Indian music venues and internationally at universities, conservatories and world music festivals. His performance of classicalragas-highly textured patterns of melody- offer the listener an understanding of the tremendous scope of traditional North Indian classical music. Arts writer for the New York Times, Edward Rothstein, said of Taranath’s performance: “Rajeev Taranath's sarod improvisations mixed the spiritual and the spirited...the raga began with introspective meditation and proceeded into an exuberant rhythmic celebration.”

Taranath's credentials as a researcher/educator are as impressive as his track record as an artist. A noted linguist and lover of language, he speaks eight languages fluently and holds a PhD in English literature from the University of Mysore. As a Ford Foundation scholar, he researched one of the most important lineages of classical Indian music, theMaihar-Allauddin Gharana.Additionally, from 1995-2005, Taranath served on the music faculty of the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles.

For Taranath, music transforms both musician and audience: “The performer, as T.S.Eliot says, lives at a conscious point where past and future are gathered. He has all the richness of the past, waiting to pass it on to the future.”

Abhiman Kaushal is an outstanding tabla artist who is much sought after for his sensitive accompaniment and intense solo playing. He represents the Farukkabad and Lucknow styles of tabla. Having been initiated into the art by his father R. B. Kaushal, who was a disciple of the legendary Ustad Amir Hussain Khan, Abhiman later continued his training under the famous Ustad Sheikh Dawood of Hyderabad, India, and the Ustad's senior most disciple, Pandit B. Nandkumar. Abhiman has accompanied most of the leading musicians, singers and dancers of North Indian classical music. He has toured around the world performing in prestigious venues. He has numerous recordings and world music collaborations. He has recorded a soundtrack for National Geographic, for the movie Zoolander and has performed for MTV's Aerosmith icon show in front of a live audience. Recently he was the featured solo musician for the acclaimed electronic dance drama Ramayana 2k3, which won rave reviews in Los Angeles and New York City. Mr. Kaushal is a sought-after concert accompanist and soloist and is presently on the faculty at UCLA.

For more information on the event: http://pages.shanti.virginia.edu/spicmacay/