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| Ghazal In Its Authentic Form: Rekha Surya Performs At MIT |
Press Release
10/01/2008
In today’s world of mediocre and diluted ghazal-singing, it will be a pleasure for Boston music lovers to hear Begum Akhtar’s youngest disciple Rekha Surya sing Ghazal in its authentic form at the MIT Wong Auditorium in Cambridge, MA on Sunday, October 5, 2008 at 4:30 PM. She will be accompanied by musicians from India.
Hindustani light-classical singer Rekha Surya is trained under late Ghazal Queen Padmabhushan Begum Akhtar of Lucknow Gharana and Queen of Thumri Padmavibhushan Girija Devi of Benaras Gharana. She has performed all over the world including at Smithsonian Institution Washington DC, the World Music Institute New York, Harvard University, University of Toronto, Nehru Centre London, National Centre for Performing Arts, Oslo, etc, and has received many awards and critical acclaim for her performances. She has recorded for the Archives of Sangeet Natak Academi. She represented India at the Asian Music Festival Sri Lanka in 1999 and at the International Falak Festival Tajikistan in 2006.
Thumri, Dadra and Ghazal often merge the sensuous with the sublime, linking romance with spiritual love, much like erotic sculpture adorning ancient temples. Rekha Surya’s special mark is that she treats Ghazal as an allied form of Thumri and presents it alongside Thumri and Dadra. She also sings Sufi poetry in this tradition, making her Sufiana rendering unique. Her rich voice and passionate music evokes an exotic image of a bygone era. Having studied under Begum Akhtar and followed that hypnotic inheritance with great gift. Her voice is deep and resonant and her pronunciation has the same savour as the Begum’s. At times she is sprightly, at others melancholy, but always poignant.
“Rekha Surya enthralled. Her audience was spellbound by her Hori, Kajri, Jhoola and Dadra, interspersed with Ghazal.†- The Bombay Times
“Rekha Surya is a talent to behold. Rarely does one find such confluence of restraint and abandon, discipline and playfulness, nerve-tingling sensuality and a near-sacred dedication to the Indian art of vocal exposition. Her voice has presence. It announces itself. Raw and earthy, it is powerful in the upper reaches, husky and seductive in the lower octave.†- Baltimore Sun
“The sensuous and the sublime become one when Rekha Surya sings Sufi poetry.†-The Asian Age
This is a rare opportunity to hear Rekha Surya on Sunday, October 5th at the MIT Wong Auditorium in Cambridge, MA at 4:30 PM. The Sufi concert is titled ‘Romancing the Divine’. It is organized by Sangam and International Hindi Association, and is supported by Harvard Sangeet, LearnQuest, and Sounds of India. For further information contact (786) 214-4857 or info@hindi.org. Buy Tickets Online at: https://www.lokvani.com/iha.
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