Other upcoming tabla events, June 21 to June 27

Dear friends,

As the tabla workshop is quickly approaching (June 22-July 5), there will be a number of tabla-related activities happening in Montreal! Of course, Pt. Sharda Sahai's concert on June 22, which I mentioned in the previous posting. Here are some other events:

Saturday, June 21 at 3:00pm - An Indian improvisation
Masterclass with Pt. Sharda Sahai, hosted by me
This is part of the Montreal Baroque Festival's activities, and is taking place at the Château Ramezay in Old Montreal.

Sunday, June 22 at 11:00am - Sitar & Tabla
An outdoor Indian classical performance with Guy Bernier on sitar, and myself on tabla.
This is also part of the Montreal Baroque Festival's activities, and is taking place at the Place de la Dauversière in Old Montreal.

Wednesday, June 25 at 7pm
Tabla Lecture Series, presented as part of the 26th Annual Summer Tabla Workshop with Pandit Sharda Sahai
Niel Golden (Victoria, BC) - Tabla Fusion: Tabla Performance in Non-Classical Music
Tanna Schulich Hall, McGill University, 555 Sherbrooke Street West
FREE ADMISSION

Thursday, June 26 at 7pm
Tabla Lecture Series, presented as part of the 26th Annual Summer Tabla Workshop with Pandit Sharda Sahai
Todd Hammes (DMA candidate the University of Wisconsin-Madison) - The Influence of Pandit Sharda Sahai on Western Chamber Music
Tanna Schulich Hall, McGill University, 555 Sherbrooke Street West
FREE ADMISSION

Friday, June 27 at 7pm
Tabla Lecture Series, presented as part of the 26th Annual Summer Tabla Workshop with Pandit Sharda Sahai
Dr. Frances Shepherd (Pandit Ram Sahai Sangit Vidyalaya; London, UK) - Guru-Shishya-Parampara (the guru-disciple tradition)
Tanna Schulich Hall, McGill University, 555 Sherbrooke Street West
FREE ADMISSION

Hope to see you there!

Shawn

Pandit Sharda Sahai in concert, June 22!

Dear friends,

I am happy to announce that my tabla guru, Pandit Sharda Sahai will be returning to Montreal to perform a recital with the sarangi player, Pandit Ramesh Mishra. Here are the details of the performance:

TABLA VIRTUOSO
PANDIT SHARDA SAHAI
IN CONCERT
Sunday, June 22, 21h30
Cirque Éloize, 417 Berri Street (in Old Montreal)

Tickets & information : http://www.montrealbaroque.com/ / 514.845.7171 / 1.866.845.7171
35$ adults ; 25$ seniors ; 10$ students

World renowned virtuoso tabla player Pandit Sharda Sahai will be accompanied by Pandit Ramesh Mishra on the sarangi for this recital of Indian classical music. Pandit Sharda Sahai is a direct descendant of Pandit Ram Sahai, who created the Benares style of tabla playing in the late 18th century. The recital, titled TABLA D’HAUTE, will be held Sunday, June 22nd at 21h30 at the Cirque Éloize building in Old Montreal (407 Berri street).

The recital will be preceeded by ‘Ohso Square’, a concert inspired by the famous musical evenings of the British East India Company employees, and presented by Notturna, a young & up-coming Montreal group.

Both events are part of the Montreal Baroque Festival. Entitled Syrup, Silk, Saffron, the 6th edition of the Festival celebrates the cultural diversity of Montreal with early music from all corners of the globe. From June 20th to the 23rd in Old Montreal.

The Festival’s programming is available via its Website, http://www.montrealbaroque.com/. Tickets for all the concerts can be purchased online, or by calling the Festival at 514.845.7171.
Prices : 20-35$ adults; 15-25$ seniors; 10$ students under 25.

Hope to see you there!

Shawn

Tabla Maestro, Pandit Kishan Maharaj

Dear friends,

It is a sad day for tabla-fans around the world. Pandit Kishan Maharaj has passed away.

From The Hindu News:

"Varanasi (PTI): Well-known tabla player Kishan Maharaj died here after a brief illness. He was 84.

He died at a private hospital at Khajuri at 11.45 pm on Sunday night, family sources said.

The tabla maestro was admitted to the hospital after he suffered a paralytic attack on April 29.

Maharaj suffered the attack while eminent sarod player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his family were visiting him. The sarod exponent was here with his sons, Aman and Ayaan, to attend a music function.

Maharaj, who was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2002, was one of the finest tabla players of the country and had a career which spanned over half a century. He began playing tabla at a tender age of 11 years.

He learned the art under the watchful eyes of his father Pandit Hari Maharaj. After the untimely death of his father, Maharaj's training was taken over by his uncle, Pt Kanthe Maharaj, one of the great old masters and himself a disciple of Pt Baldeo Sahai. Pt Baldeo Sahai was the grandson of Pt Ram Sahai, founder of the Banaras gharana.

Maharaj's ability to play cross rhythms and produce complex calculations, particularly in 'tihai' patterns has made him one of the most respected and popular tabla players of his time. He had immense versatility with regard to playing any kind of accompaniment, be it with the sitar, sarod, dhrupad, dhamar or dance."

REFUGE dance project

Hi everyone,

Tomorrow night will be the premiere of Manijeh Ali's new dance choreography called Refuge:

"Refuge is a dance project dedicated to Sufism, a mystical tradition of Islam that is based on the belief that love is a projection of the essence of God in the universe. The practitioners of Sufism have coloured Persian literature with beautiful images of gardens, with passionate words for divine love, and with a beautifully defined profile of the beloved in a state of ecstasy. Through these dynamic images, Refuge celebrates the essence of Sufism using an elegant dance vocabulary derived from the precision of Bharata Natyam, the fluidity of Kathak, and the subtlety of Persian dance."

A production of Silken Dance, choreographed by Manijeh Ali, Refuge will be performed by Manijeh Ali, Marjolayne Auger, Elise Legrand, and Magdalena Nowecka at Art Neuf (3819 rue Calixa Lavallée, Montreal) on April 9, 10, 11, and 12, 2008 at 8:00 PM.

While I'm not personally performing in this production, I mention it because I have performed with Manijeh in the past, and that excerpts from my CD, Payton MacDonald: Works for Tabla will form part of the musical score. I look forward to seeing how the tabla concertos will be re-interpreted with dance!

Super Marimba performance with Payton MacDonald

Hi everyone,

I feel that I've been very lucky this spring - many great performances with great musicians. Another recent performance was this past Wednesday, April 2 with the American percussionist (also a tabla player), Payton MacDonald.

Tim Brady, from Bradyworks, invited us to perform a concert together as part of his series entitled VOYAGES: Montreal-New York. With Payton representing New York, and myself representing Montreal, the idea was to combine my tabla playing with Payton's tabla-inspired marimba playing.

Payton describes his Super Marimba like this: "Super Marimba is the nexus point of all of my artistic activities. Here I combine my study of tabla drumming, Western classical composition, and Jazz improvisation. All of my Super Marimba compositions are notated, but the pieces include improvisation. Sometimes the improvisation is free and spontaneous, but more often it is of a unique sort that I have developed over the past couple years, based on the kaida/palta theme and variation processes used in tabla drumming." He also uses loop and distortion pedals to record, loop, and modify the marimba sound in real-time.

The concert program was quite varied. We began with a tabla solo, accompanied by the marimba (perhaps an unusual take on a very traditional concept). Next was Hazel, Orange, for Super Marimba and tabla. Here, I was able to accompany Payton on tabla, while adding some extra colour on various percussion instruments. Next, Payton performed Vignette for solo Super Marimba, and I followed with Paul Frehner's composition for solo tabla, Ke-Te.

After the intermission, we performed Spider and Four Places of Prophecy in the Fire Ritual, for Super Marimba and tabla, followed by Bruno Paquet's Les arbres célestes, for tabla and pre-recorded tape. We concluded the concert with Payton's composition for marimba and tabla, Jugalbandi.

After 10 years of collaboration with Payton, it was really a pleasure to perform this concert with him. I look forward to the next time we are able to perform together!

This was also the first time I used my Sabian "sprimbal" in concert. It's the weird looking cymbal to my left. It basically sounds the way it looks. :) It was also a pleasure to perform at the Theatre La Chapelle. The acoustic was great, and the sound and lighting crew were extremely professional.

Performance with Catherine Potter for Insightful Events

Hi everyone,

Last weekend, on Friday March 28, I had the pleasure of performing with Canada's premiere bansuri player, Catherine Potter. A disciple of Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, she has been performing Indian classical music for over 20 years.

Catherine performing alap

The event in question is called DOC~Illumination, which is a monthly series put on by Insightful Events to raise money for the Prevent Cancer Now organization. The event began with an Ayurveda workshop given by Nicole Thériault, followed by our performance, which was then followed by a film about Ayurveda.

Unfortunately, we only had a short time to perform, but it was a lot of fun. After a short alap (Raag Jog), we followed with a gat in Jhaptaal. We then did another piece in Teentaal, though now I forget which raag (sorry!).

Many thanks to Risa for her warm welcome and Kai for his help with the sound.

Next month's event will include a santoor performance and Bharat Natyam dance.

Videos of Samsara, Concerto for Tabla

Hi everyone,

Vicky Shin, who conducted the premiere of Samsara, posted this video up on you tube. It's the premiere performance with the McGill Chamber Wind Orchestra, and myself on tabla. Samsara is a concerto for tabla and wind ensemble by American composer (and tabla player), Payton MacDonald.

The piece has been separated into two video clips because of the YouTube length limitations. Comments welcome!


Samsara - Part 1



Samsara - Part 2

Enjoy!
Shawn