“A Classical Odyssey” is a musical offering to maestro Ravi Shankar , the global phenomenon in Classical music. The tribute concert features a solo performance by his daughter the sitar doyenne Anoushka Shankar. Anoushka is credited with many awards and Grammy nominations for her extraordinary projects.
Shankar who was born in London, is the daughter of Sukanya Shankar and Indian sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, who was 61 when she was born. Through her father, she is also a half-sister of American singer Norah Jones (born Geetali Shankar), and Shubhendra "Shubho" Shankar, who died in 1992. She grew up in California, but in 2009 she moved to London, and married British director, Joe Wright, on 26 September 2010.
Another solo performance for the evening features the world renowned violin virtuoso, Dr L.Subramaniam. His performance will feature Carnatic classical music. He will be accompanied by noted musicians on Ghatam, Morsing & Mridangam (various Indian percussions).
In addition to the above, sonorous vocal recitals of Tagore Songs by celebrated artists Ms Luva Nahid Choudhury and Ms Aditi Mohsin from Bangladesh are other exciting features of the concert.
The major attraction of the evening is a rare duet featuring Pandit Shivkumar Sharma on Santoor (a melodic string instrument with Persian lineage) and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia on Bansuri (Bamboo Flute). The duet is always an ethereal experience for the avid listeners. Both are living legends and icons to music lovers the world over. They will be accompanied on Tabla & Pakhawaj (Indian Drums) by noted exponents Shri Vijay Ghate & Shri Bhavani Shankar respectively.
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, is the master instrumentalist of the Santoor, after some years as a vocalist. He is credited with making the Santoor a popular Classical Instrument.
In 1967, he teamed up with flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia and Brij Bhushan Kabra to produce a concept album, Call of the Valley (1967) which turned out to be one of the greatest hits in Indian Classical Music. He has composed music for many Hindi films in collaboration with Hariprasad Chaurasia starting with Silsila (1980). They came to be known as the 'Shiv-Hari' music duo. He is a winner of many national and international awards.
Chaurasia started learning vocal music from his neighbour, Pandit Rajaram, at the age of 15. Later, he switched to playing the flute under the tutelage of Pandit Bholanath Prasanna of Varanasi for eight years. He joined the All India Radio, Cuttack, Odisha in 1957 and worked as a composer and performer.
He serves as the artistic director of the World Music Department at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory in the Netherlands. He was also the founder of the Vrindavan Gurukul in Mumbai (opened 2006) and Vrindavan Gurukul in Bhubaneshwar (opened 2010). He has collaborated with several western musicians, winning acclaim from varied audiences and fellow musicians including Yehudi Menuhin and Jean-Pierre Rampal. Chaurasia also played on The Beatles' 1968 B-side "The Inner Light", which was written by George Harrison. He is also a recipient of several national and international awards.
The concert is presented by Blues Communications in association with Perfect Harmony Productions Ltd UK.
Date: Sunday 22 May, Royal Albert Hall, 6pm onwards, Tickets at www.royalalberthall.com. Box office: 020 7589 8212.
