“past the hippies
past Ravi Shankar
eons before
when the first Asian snake
came alive
stiffened with sound
through some empty shell
some hollow wood
some emptinessâ€
~Belinda Subraman
Music moves all life. Good music, when it resonates with the listener, can move souls and uplift spirits. It becomes a conduit for a higher spiritual communion, a path to one’s inner bliss. So is all music made equal? Can you listen to any music, from any part of the world, in any one of the many genres and reach the same end? I asked my family this question and they all agreed that they must not only enjoy the music, they must understand it. I then asked myself what makes music accessible. What do I fathom and savor? I tend to follow music I have grown up with. The lullabies heard at my mother’s and grandmother’s knee, the radio playing regional melodies early in the morning. The rhymes the vegetable vendor belts out in the afternoon sun, or the ditties labourers sing as they work on the house down the street. These are the familiar tunes that make my feet tap and bring a smile to my face. But then again, there is the sublime feeling of listening to a classical raaga. The subtle nuances of notes and scales that tickle the senses and makes us feel all those myriad emotions. What do you enjoy most, is it the lively folk tunes that you have grown up with or the lilting classical melodies that stir your emotions. The raw allure of folk music and the sophisticated appeal of classical music, both stirring emotions and eliciting passion, both capable of lifting your soul.
Find your inner bliss at Raaga Rang 2016, where classical music meets folk melodies and takes you on this unique journey into the heart of melody. On April 9th, the Scottish Rite Museum will resonate with beautiful music created by eminent musicians from New England and beyond.
Singers at Raaga Rang include Shuchita Rao, Meena Sundaram, Dilip Acharya, Shekhar Shastri, Sankar Gangaikondan, Uma Sankar, Meesha Acharya, Shubhra Bhattacharya-Chandra, Aditya Rohit, Vijay Kumar, Kshitish Biswas. Our instrumental section consists of Sujeet Phanse, Hiral Parikh, Koushik Chakrabarty, Phil Scarff, Abhilash Mehta, Phil Kaplan, Kaushik Majumdar, Anirudh Nagesha. These musicians, from a young 17 year old to the professional ustad, come from all walks of life. The maverick “folksiness†melds with the trained musician to merge melody and rhythm, with the familiar. Come to experience Indian music in it’s heightened essence and let the familiar folk music tickle those native memories. Come to discover the core of harmony.
Raaga Rang
April 9, 2016 6:00 pm
Scottish Rite Museum, Lexington, MA
Tickets at Lokvani
508-68-raaga
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