Such a pleasure to be in conversation with an acclaimed film sound designer from Kolkata and to interact with a lively audience at Jadavpur University in Kolkata. It brought back such great memories of the years I spent there from 1996-1999 and the many visits over the following years. Thanks to Dr Rahi Soren for the organising this.
Was so happy to be back in Kolkata after 5 years of Covid affected travel.
I had been invited to give 5 performances in one of my most musically vibrant and inspiring cities in the world. I was honoured to have performed in front of highly renowned musicians Ustad Irfan Khan, Pandit Buddhaditya Mukherjee, Pandit Anindya Banerjee, Subranil Sarkar and Kathak danseuse Vidushi Sushmita Banerjee
A couple of the posters plastered on the streets of Kolkata for one of the performances which took place at Shishir Manch in the city’s Arts precinct.
September 2023, online performance with the Hindustani Music Collective Melbourne for Culture X Festival.
https://www.youtube.com/live/CPhNcyAkEnc?si=r-h_1K8W6ykALzEk
December 2023 – composed and performed music for a short film made in Melbourne.
17th April 8pm and 18th April 3pm
Bobby and I are so looking forward to performing again after a 12 month COVID-19 hiatus. We are really excited to be playing at such a great venue for Hindustani music in Sydney – @107 (107 Redfern St, Redfern).
Hope to be able to catch up with as many of our friends in Sydney as possible (we miss you!)
Melbourne Hindustani Classical Music Society
Adrian McNeil sarod
Bobby Singh tabla
7.30pm Kew Court House
188 High St, Kew, VIC 3101
Full details: https://www.boroondara.vic.gov.au/events/hindustani-classical-instrumental
The Sourindro Mohan Tagore/Bengal Renaissance project was featured on the ABC Radio National show, The Live Set with Alice Keath on November 27th, 2014. The ensemble Vinod Prasanna, Michael Galeazzi Damian Wright, Bobby Singh and Adrian McNeil recorded 3 tracks and Alice spoke to Adrian about the musical and historical significance of the project in an extended interview.
Click here for details
Early musical connections between Melbourne and Calcutta:
Sourindro Mohun Tagore (1840-1914)
and the Melbourne International Exhibition (1880-81)
Around ninety musical instruments and a series of books on music written by Sourendro Mohun Tagore were sent by this leading figure of the Bengal renaissance to the Melbourne Philharmonic Society from colonial Calcutta in 1880-1, as a gift for the celebrations of the opening of the Melbourne Exhibition Buildings. Amongst these were musical scores Tagore, the founding president of the Bengal School of Music, had written in Western notation based on Hindustani ragas. These scores were intended to provide Western musicians with a way of engaging with some of the key melodic elements of Indian music and also to provide material for his ‘native orchestra’.
Supported by a State Library creative fellowship, Dr Adrian McNeil has put together an exciting and unique musical ensemble which will bring this music to life through emotionally charged virtuosic interpretations of a selection of these beautiful raga based tunes, for the first time since the 19th century. The ensemble is comprised by internationally renowned Australian and Indian musicians.
These historically important pieces combined elements of Hindustani and Western music. This fusion was emblematic of the late nineteenth century Calcutta, a period when the challenges of colonialism and modernity provided the impetus for intercultural creative experimentation in literature, painting, education, theatre and, of course, music amongst the Bengali elite and intellectual classes – the bhadralok. This music, along with the historically and culturally significant collection of instruments commissioned and constructed by Sourendra Mohan Tagore, were a unique expression of a extraordinary period, often referred to as the Bengal Renaissance. It was an extraordinary forward looking movement that anticipated the fusion and hybrid musical efforts of contemporary times. In this centenary of the anniversary of SM Tagore’s death, it seems fitting to revisit his music and to rediscover this largely unknown connection between Melbourne and Calcutta.
Performance:
State Library of Victoria
Village Road show Theatrette
November 29th, 2014
Shows at noon and 6 pm
Michael Galeazzi (double bass)
Adrian McNeil (sarod)
Vinod Prasanna (bansuri flute),
Bobby Singh (tabla)
Damian Wright (flamenco guitar)
Tickets at the Door:
Free Entry
Rasa Duende interviews and live performances on ABC Radio National – 2013
Click here for performance and interview with Robbie Buck
Here’s a link to our interview with Emma Ayres:
ABC Classic FM – Classic Breakfast – Rasa Duende blends Hindustani and Flamenco traditions in a spicy Breakfast Jam