Music

String Fest:
Festival Of Plucked And Bowed Instruments -
Raginder Singh On Violin,
Gurdev Singh On Dilruba

SAMA Arts

   


Raginder Singh - Violin
Dr Binderpal Singh Bains - Tabla
Adib Rostami- Khamencheh
Amir Ali Sam - Percussion

Tuesday 18 April / 6.30pm

Nehru Centre, 8 S Audley St, Mayfair, London W1K 1HF, United Kingdom

Free admission


Raginder Singh is a young and upcoming violinist and music composer from San Francisco, California, USA. Born in a musical family, Raginder has always been surrounded by many different types of music in his upbringing. He first started playing the violin when he was 11 years old and then became a student of renowned Indian classical violinist, Dr. Sisirkana Choudhury.

Raginder has brought it upon his violin to experiment with different genres of music such as Hip-Hop, Pop, Sikh/Punjabi and Indian Classical and many more. He has frequently immersed into music composition and film scoring in which he combines sounds he is influenced by.

He is a graduate from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) where he studied under Ustaad Aashish Khan and received his Bachelors of Fine Arts in World Music Performance.

He has performed in prominent venues all over the world such as the White House, Staples Center and many more. Through these endeavors and experiences, Raginder’s art will always bring new, intense, and interesting types of music for his audiences to hear.

Dr Binderpal Singh Bains began his tabla training at the age of 12 with Giani Gian Singh Surjit. He later went on to continue his training under the tutelage of Ustad Harkirat Singh Rayatt who introduced him to Sikh/Punjabi and North Indian Classical Music and the subject of tabla as a solo instrument in its own right. Over the years, Binderpal has been fortunate to have received training from the likes of the late Pandit Shankar Ghosh, Pt Bickram Ghosh, Pandit Yogesh Samsi, and Pandit Nayan Ghosh.

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Gurdev Singh - Dilruba
Surjeet Singh - Sarangi
Manjeet Singh Rasiya - Tabla

Saturday 22 April / 7.30pm - 10.30pm

Dominion Centre, 112 The Green, Southall, UB2 4BQ, United Kingdom

Tickets: £10 available online from Eventbrite.


Gurdev Singh is a leading player of Sarod and Dilruba. He studied under Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and is well-known internationally through his performances in the USA, Canada, India and UK.

Gurdev Singh was born on January 15 in Punjab. He began learning music at the age of seven under Ustad Tara Singh and Piara Singh who taught him Dilruba, a bowed instrument of great antiquity, which Gurdev still plays today with great brilliance. He is also trained in vocal music under Pandit Mahadeo Prasad in both contemporary and the traditional Dhrupad style.

In 1967 Gurdev became a student of the world famous Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan in Delhi and was introduced to the Sarod with the patronage of Bhai Jagjit Singh ji. The Sarod is an extremely demanding instrument to handle, partly because it is fretless. It is capable of an extraordinary range of sounds, from haunting sweetness to dazzling speed and power.

His success can be measured by his popularity on the subcontinent, in both live and radio concerts, and by the increasing international demand for his performances, especially in the U.K. His U.K performances have included the BBC, Midland TV, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Bath and Oxford University, the 1984 Liverpool Garden Festival and South Bank.

In North America he has played in Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle University and the prestigious Amir Khusro Society in Chicago. He has also visited Switzerland, Denmark, Darmstadt festival in Germany and other European countries. Every year Gurdev also performs in major festivals held all over India.

Gurdev Singh has released a CD with ARC Music called “The Art Of Indian Sarod” in Germany, adding to his other CDs and records collection.

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Surjeet Singh (1961, Delhi) is a leading sarangi players in the UK and is a senior student of Pandit Ram Narayan. He started his early training under the tutelage of Gurdev Singh and Ustad Harbhajan Singh. He is a member of the staff at Raj Academy and includes Prof. Surinder Singh amongst his students.

Surjeet Singh was introduced into Sikh and Punjabi classical music by Bhai Jagjit Singh ji of Bhaini Sahib. At Bhaini Sahib, he was trained in the playing of the Dilruba by Ustaad Gurdev Singh and Ustaad Harbhajan Singh (both of whom are now based in the U.K)

He later received vocal training but his love of the enchanting sound of the Sarangi led him to the doors of the great proponent of the Sarangi, Pandit Ram Narayan in 1977. He spent the next 15 years as Pandit Ram Narayan's student.

In recent years Surjeet Singh has also received guidance from Pandit Hanuman Prasad Mishra (Banaras Gharana). He has played extensively throughout the subcontinent at various important festivals giving solo recitals as well as accompanying leading musicians such as Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, Pundit Rajan - Sajan Mishra and L K Pandit amongst others.

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Manjeet Singh Rasiya is one UK's finest percussionists. Reared in the Sikh/Punjabi classical music tradition his flair and aptitude for adaptation and innovation soon found him excelling not only in his main instrument, the tabla, but also in Latin and Afro-Cuban drumming which has put him on the world music platform.

He recently performed in Milan with Jarvis Cocker, Badly Drawn Boy, Marianne Faithful, Beth Orton, Robyn Hitchcock and Peter Murphy.

He was involved with the production of ‘Rafta Rafta' starring Meera Sayal and Harish Patel at the Royal National Theatre.

Alongside his regular performances with renowned musicians from India such has Shivamani, Hariharan, Jagjit Singh, Ustad Sabri Khan and the late Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, he has worked with UK based artists such as Craig Pruess, Kuljit Bhamra, Pete Lockett, Joy, Sister Indian and Bond.

Manjeet has also worked and performed on the percussion arrangements for Gurinder Kaur Chadha's film ‘Bride and Prejudice‘, and the Holywood film ‘Alexander the Great‘, starring Val Kilmer and Angelina Jolie.


[Courtesy: SAMA Arts. Edited for sikhchic.com]
March 24, 2017

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