Who are these people, you might ask.
Aruna Narayan Kalle is the daughter and student of renowned sarangi master, Ram Narayan, who has brought this difficult instrument to the mainstream of Indian performing arts. Aruna is heir to her father's disciplined and serious style and has developed her own unique musical form with subtlety, precision and graceful warmth. She performs classical concerts of traditional Indian music to standing ovations in India, Europe, recently at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the U.S. and Canada.
In addition to her traditional music, Aruna performs with western musicians in a wide variety of musical experiences. She was featured in a unique presentation of Vivaldi's Four Seasons as performed by the Tafelmusik Baroque ensemble, as soloist with the Endymion Ensemble of the UK and with the San Francisco East Bay Symphony. Her music has been featured in international (as well as Hollywood) films. Aruna's recordings are available on the Nimbus (UK) and Zig-Zag (France) labels. She resides in Toronto where she teaches and performs.
"Aruna's superb technical control and her magnificently sympathetic understanding of her instrument has made her much in demand. The sheer exuberance of her playing has delighted audiences in this country and abroad". -Link Newsweekly, New Delhi. (They said it better than I could!)
Debasish Chaudhuri, who was born in India and now resides in the Los Angeles area, is a sought-after tabla soloist, accompanist, and teacher. He began his musical studies at age five under the guidance of Nanku Maharaj and Kanai Dutta, and for over thirty years, he has studied with his uncle, renowned tabla maestro Swapan Chaudhuri. He has accompanied various world-renowned artists, and has been on the faculty of the Pandit Jasraj School of Music Foundation in Los Angeles, CA and in Tampa, Florida. He is a director of the Rupak Shool of World Music in Los Angeles.
And what on earth is the Sarangi?
The Sarangi is one of the most important bowed instruments of India. It is basically made of a 2-foot long rectangle carved from a single block of wood, the lower part or body, narrowing at the middle to facilitate bowing. Its bridge is mounted on a stretched skin covering the opening
of its body. The Sarangi has several sets of strings: 3 main gut playing or melody strings, one metal drone string, and usually 35 or 36 brass or steel sympathetic strings that vibrate when their pitches are related to the pitches of the playing strings. Pegs for these strings are situated
on both sides and the top of its neck. The continuous humming of so many differently tuned sympathetic strings when the main strings are bowed, may well be the source of the "hundred colors" in its name.
Unlike the violin, the Sarangi has no frets or fingerboard. Specific pitches are created by sliding the fingernail, the cuticle or the area under the first knuckle of the first, second, and third fingers of the right hand against an open melody string. The left hand does the bowing that excites the sound.
Mark your calendars for the remaining events this season!
Saturday, May 8, 2010, 8 PM
Aashish Khan, sarod
Alam Khan, sarod
Swapan Chaudhury, tabla
Saturday, June 5, 2010, 8 PM
Mahesh Kale, vocal
Gopal Marathe, harmonium
Hemant Ekbote, Tabla
Don't know where Herrick is?
Herrick Chapel, Occidental College
Campus Road and Alumni Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Music Circle memberships will be available for purchase at the door before the concert.
For more information about concerts or memberships: 626-449-6987 www.MusicCircle.org
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