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Asian Music Centre
See a gallery of photos of the Asian Music Centre, and also a gallery of asian musical instruments. Much has been written and discussed on the subject of music education. The challenge facing the AMC is to somehow provide an “ atmosphere” and an “ambience” in which people of all ages can “discover” something about Asian music at levels ranging from simple interest to performance. We are dealing with music cultures whose natural homes are far from our shores - and yet there is a strong desire among people of all ages to learn about them as well as try to teach them in the UK. The teaching of the music from different parts of the world is a part of the National Curriculum. The challenge for the AMC is develop a clear path through the many theories with vision, while at the same time having a real demonstrable impact. Music can lead to a better understanding of people and perhaps be a force for good and for better global citizenship. In many Asian countries – especially the Indian sub-continent – music has always been learned through a process of contemplation, intuition and individual search in the spiritual as well as practical sense. This is in contrast to the more intellectual and formal process of studying music in the West. To study Asian music in its own context is one thing, taking in the air, the sounds and sights of the particular country, being surrounded by the musical culture and being brought up in it, speaking the language of that country, living the life of the music and being a citizen of that country. How can one possibly replicate all that in the UK? The approach here therefore has to be more of an intellectual one – lectures, studying from books, listening to recordings, analysing, discussing. In the faster way of life of the West, there is little time for practise, contemplation and the process of “self discovery”. It is also important to note that in Asian countries, music has had strong spiritual roots being a fundamental part of the thinking and way of life of people and their faith. Music has been seen as way to personal gnosis and “realisation” and has evolved along the lines of mainly solo – as in India - but also some ensemble performance – as in Indonesia and other parts of S.E.Asia with strong elements of improvisation. In India, it is a part of yoga with its disciplines, knowledge acquired by revelation than science. In the absence of living in Asian countries, the AMC has tried to bring a sense of those beautiful cultures to the UK in its new Asian Music Centre. It has tried to provide a kind “ experiential” way of learning about the extraordinary and wide variety of music from Asia: the superb display of musical instruments supported by a huge database of audio-visual information about them and the music played on them through touch screen terminals is the beginning of the journey. The amazing “sensor” room enables the participant to create music from the specific sounds of selected musical cultures – simply by moving their hands and body thus breaking sound beams; only the notes of a morning raga will be available if that's what has been chosen, and the musical notes – both vocal and instrumental – are accompanied by the colours of dawn and the feel of morning in India. Perhaps a raga of the rainy season is of more interest, in which case the sensor room converts into a typical scene associated with the rain and monsoon in India. Enjoy the sounds of the exotic gamelan in a “ virtual” setting of a temple in Bali or the maqom of the plains of Central Asia from Xinjiang in Western China to the shashmaqom of Uzbekistan and the romantic cities of Samarkand and Bukhara. The Centre also provides the participant the chance to enjoy the AMC's ever increasing audio-visual collection through two touch screen terminals in the study. The performance space enables the student to try instruments hand-on, attend seminars and workshops with master musicians and experts in their fields, watch films. Furthermore, the AMC's inspired and varied touring programme gives the student an ideal opportunity to listen to the best of the music and artists live in performance; the hugely successful Sounds of Asia summer school offers a unique opportunity to attend seven day intensive courses with great musicians from India, China, Japan and soon – Indonesia. Finally, it has to be said that with all the opportunity that the AMC is now able to offer, it is up to the student to take up the challenge of learning and performing. Only the student knows what they feel about the music and what it means to them, only the performer can let us all know what he or she personally feels about our life and world through the music they individually perform through their own hard practice and devotion to their art. One thing is certain that the diversity, the excellence, the beauty of the music and unrivalled artistry of the musicians of Asia cannot be denied and must be experienced and understood by all; let us help us all become better and peaceful citizens of our small world. Tours / Concerts / Education / Summer Schools / Artists / News / Shop / Asian Music Centre / Membership / Links
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Map available here |