| The Dying Song – Theatre & music production |
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Number of artists in touring team: 11
A Theatre-music interface about an androgynous thumri singer.
The narrative is as much about the dying form of
baithak
thumri (traditionally performed by the baiji or courtesan) as Suraiya - the artist who performs it at the borders of time, tradition and gender definition.
The conflict is within the protagonist who sometimes believes he/she is a Woman/man
. It is also between the characters who represent different generations and values.
The performance integrates music and musicians into the theatre space and offers a unique experience.
Thumri as a genre occupies the middle space between high classical music, theatre and dance. It is the feminine form as opposed to the masculine and vigorous Dhrupad or Khayal.
Suraiya – The artist occupies the grey space between strict gender borders. His/her androgynous boss and psyche become the song. The music – drama is about the singer and the song.
The script is inspired by a marathi novella entitled Devyachi Ayee by C.T. Khanolkar.
Lead Cast: Bireshwar Gautam
Other Cast: TBA
Narrator - a young lecturer in a small town
Champa - Nawab's daughter - a young girl.
NAWAB - the aristocrat who passionately loves thumri and is the owner of the haveli (old mansion) in which the drama unfolds.
Downloads : Image 1 | Image 2 | Image 3 | Audio
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Read the press release here.
Date |
Location/Contact Details |
| The Dying Song |
Tue 10 June
7:30pm |
NCEM/YORK
The National Centre for Early Music
B/o Tel: 01904 658338
Www.latemusicfestival.org.uk
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| Thu 19 June
8pm |
SAGE GATESHEAD, NEWCASTLE
The Sage Gateshead
B/o 0191 443 4661
Www.thesagegateshead.org |
| Sun 29 June
7:30pm |
LONDON
South Bank Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall
B/o 0871 663 2500
Www.south.southbankcentre.co.uk |
| Fri 18 July
8pm |
BRIGHTON
Pavilion Theatre
B/o: 01273 709709
Www.brightondome.org |
| Sun 27 July
7:15pm |
MANCHESTER
The Lowry
B/o 0870 1112000
Www.thelowry.com |
| Bireshwar Gautam Workshop “ON THUMRI AND ABHINAYA" |
| Tue 17 June
6-8pm |
Artist: Bireshwar Gautam introduced by SANGEETA DUTTA
Venue: Asian Music Centre
Fee: £3
Asian Music Centre
Tel: 020 8749 9584 / 020 8742 9911/or info@amc.org.uk |
| Bireshwar Gautam – solo with sarangi and tabla accompaniment |
| Fri 27 June
7:30pm |
CORNWALL
St. Ives Arts club
B/o 01736 794477 and 01736 796297
Www.stivesarts.club.org |
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| CHINESE ENSEMBLE: SILK STRING QUARTET with MATTHEW BARLEY |
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THE AMC IS COMMISSIONING CONTEMPORARY COMPOSER PETER WIEGOLD AND ALSO ZHAO JIPING FROM CHINA TO CREATE SOME PIECES FOR MATTHEW BARLEY AND THE CHINESE SILK STRING QUARTET. THE PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE THESE NEW WORKS AS WELL AS TRADITIONAL WORKS AND STYLES BY MATTHEW BARLEY AND THE CHINESE SILK STRING QUARTET.
Number of artists in touring team: 6 Silk String Quartet
The UK and Europe's Premier Chinese String Quartet is a young, professional, London based Chinese string ensemble. All of the four virtuosi musicians have already gained international recognition in their own right and they are now pooling their talents in order to pursue new creative projects. Silk Strings play new compositions as well as traditional pieces and enjoy collaborative projects with western orchestras, cross-cultural genres as well as performing in their own right.
The Silk String Quartet has already performed at the Royal Academy, London Showcase, WOMEX 2006 World Music Expo – the world's largest international festival for world music. The Quartet also performed at WOMAD in July 2007, and the performance was recorded by BBC Radio 3.
Cheng Yu – pipa (4-stringed lute) and guqin (7-stringed zither)
Founder of the quartet, Cheng Yu is a musicologist, teacher & outstanding performer of the pipa and guqin.
Sun Zhuo – guzheng (21-stringed zither)
A musicologist and performer of guzheng in China and London. Sun has recently released two CDs of traditional and new music.
Qiu Zenghui – erhu and jinghu (2-stringed fiddles)
A specialist in Beijing Opera music in the UK and a former lead musician on the jinghu and erhu in the National Beijing Opera Troupe.
Zhou Yinyan – yangqin (hammered dulcimer)
A former member of the Beijing Plucked Strings Ensemble, Zhou attained a degree from the China Conservatory of Music and has been performing on stage since the age of 8.
Matthew Barley – cello
“I wish more people would think about music the way Matthew Barley does.”
The Times (London)
After training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Moscow Conservatoire, Matthew's activities in performance, improvisation, cross-disciplinary projects, composition, and pioneering community programmes soon developed to form a uniquely eclectic international career. The best representation of this career so far was Matthew's marathon UK tour, On The Road, in 2006 playing 20 recitals and giving 17 workshops in 30 days. The venues ranged from prestigious concert halls, to a prison, a school for terminally ill children, and a vegetarian cafe. The programme included improvisation, core classical music, contemporary music with electronics, and a new piece by DJ Bee and Barley for cello with computer and midi-pedal board! The tour was a huge critical and audience success with many sold-out houses.
Date |
Location |
Contact Details |
| 13th November |
Purcell Room |
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| Rajasthani Folk Music & Dance |
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Number of artists in touring team: 11
From the colourful deserts of Western Rajasthan, traditional folk musicians perform vocal compositions of the great Sufi poets (such as Buleshar and Shah Latif) as well as traditional Hindu songs accompanied on the beautiful sarangi and kamenche (bowed stringed instruments) with a variety of vibrant percussion and also by stunning kalbelia dancers.
Rajasthan, the “land of rulers”, is considered one of the most romantic Indian states, and is also the home to some of the sub-continent's most beautiful music. Alongside the magical palaces of these princely rulers there developed a rich village tradition, with folk musicians performing for themselves, and also for their patrons, on all occasions. Their songs told of love and war, of longing and separation (such as Laila/Majnun & Heera Ranja), of victory and in praise of God, and of social issues such as the value of their animals (especially camels) to their way of life and songs relating to life-cycle ceremonies such as marriage and expecting a child.
Downloads : Image 1
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QAWWALI
Nizami Bros (Delhi) Taufiq Niazi + Ghulam Khusro (Karachi) |
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Number of artists in touring team: 11
QAWWALI – the devotional music of the Sufi's from the Indian sub-continent - has changed a lot in the last 20 years or so to suit audiences in the West especially the world music audiences. What mattered for such audiences was the driving rhythm rather than the beauty of the lyrics or the melodies woven out of beautiful ragas. In the Nizami brothers from India Ghulam Sabir, Waris and Akbar and their cousins from Pakistan Taufiq Niazi and Ghulam Khusro we have the very best of traditional Qawwali in which improvisation is not just in melodic terms but also on the lyrics. Ghulam Sabir is the principal singer and entertainer par excellence – who can make you laugh or cry, make you feel like a prince or otherwise with his superb command of language and poetry. Akbar his brother has a fantastic voice. Taufiq Niazi and Ghulam Khusro join the Indian artists but bring a different style and tradition to the performance. There is no doubt that this group is one of the best in the world and they have not yet succumbed to the temptation of changing their style to suit Western audiences. Yes, you can have tremendous rhythm and vocal pyrotechniques but you also have wonderful music based in the traditional ragas of Indian music and poetry. This is their fourth visit to the UK with the AMC and it is a pleasure to be promoting them again this year.
Downloads : Image 1 | Image 2
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| Special Double Bill : Khyal Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Tabla Pt. Suresh Talwalkar & Thumri by Smt. Purnima Chaudhuri |
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Number of artists in touring team: 7 Purnima Chaudhuri
Purnima Chaudhury learnt the art of singing thumri, dadra, kajri, chaiti, hori, tappa and other forms of ‘light classical' music originally from the illustrious MAHADEV Prashad Mishra. Purnimaji was also trained from an early age by Pt. A. KANAN of Calcutta in Hindustani Classical Music. She also received valuable guidance from Padmabhusan Smt. GIRJA DEVI.
A rare feature of Smt. Purnima ji's music is the blend of skillful improvisations, rhythmic patterning and emotional delicacies.
Having performed all over the world, Purnima ji has also released her CD & Cassettes in Indian & Europe and has rendered her voice in the film “Meeting a milestone” produced by N.F.D.C on Ustad Bismillah Khan.
Ulhas Kashalkar
Ulhas Kashalkar is one of the prime representatives of Gwalior and Jaipur Gharana. Gifted with a melodious voice, with superb flexibility, Kashalkar's music appeals to every music lover. His gaykee is especially noted for pure traditional rendering with his own asthetic interpretation. Renowned cassette companies of India and abroad have brought out many cassettes and compact discs of his music, a testimonial to his immense popularity. He has performed extensively in India and abroad. Presently, he is associated with Sangeet Research Academy of Calcutta as a Guru.
Downloads : Image 1 | Image 2 | Audio 1 | Audio 2
(To download to your computer right-mouse-click on the link and select "Save Target As" from the menu)
Date |
Location |
Contact Details |
| 29th November |
Purcell Room,
South Bank Centre, London
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