The eminent Indian Music and arts organisation, Darbar, have just announced their line up for this years impressive Darbar festival.

The festival encompasses North and South Indian music traditions, along with film exhibitions, free workshops and a chance to meet and discuss with some of the artists.

A veritable feast of Classical Indian Musicians will resonate their marvellous music in the city of London for the main body of the events, from 1st – 4th April 2010.  No doubt the city is blessed to have such a dazzling array of stars in its midst and I heartily encourage anyone with an interest in the magic of music to attend any of these excellent performances.

With such esteemed heavyweight musicians such as as Shiv Kumar Sharma (Santoor), Anindo Chatterjee (Tabla) and the Gundecha Brothers (Dhrupad Vocal) the line up is drenched in promise.  Lesser know but no less talented appearances from artists such as the Canartic vocal duo Ranjani & Gayatri are sure to captivate British audiences and leave them spellbound.  The magical tones of Kaushal Das on Sitar are also sure to delight the listener and reveal nuances of music that will illuminate and enthrall.  I have blogged many times about the great Indian Classical Music festivals such as Dover Lane Conference in Kolkata or Dhrupad Mela in Varanasi, but this really is the closet thing we are going to get this side of the Indian Ocean.

The line-up is listed here with more details below:-

Festival elements…

Carnatic vocal and instrumental | North Indian Hindustani vocal | Dhrupad | Western Operatic | Free Workshops | Audience with the artists | Films | Mini-concerts | Concerts throughout the day

The line-up…

Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma | Patricia Rozario | Veena Sahasrabuddhe | Rohan de Saram | Dhruba Ghosh | Bhupinder Chaggar | Hari Sivanesan | T Pirashanna | Kousic Sen | Satyajit Talwalkar | Dharambir Singh | Sunil Kant Gupta | Shahbaz Hussain | Ranjani and Gayatri | Jyotsna Srikanth | H. S. Sudhindra | Sanju Sahai | Kushal Das | Pandit Anindo Chatterjee | Ravi Shankar Upadhay | A K Palanivel | Rajhesh Vaidhya | Arun Prakash | Anirudh Athreya | Pandit Venkatesh Kumar | Soumik Datta | Neyveli Venkatesh | Gundecha Brothers

The instruments…

Santoor | Sitar | Veena | Tanpura | Tabla | Mridangam | Pakhawaj | Cello | Sarod | Basuri (Indian flute) | Harmonium | Kanjira | Tavil

Early bird tickets are available, meaning that if you book before 28th February 2010, you pay less!  So get your tickets now and Book Online!

When:- Thursday, 01 April 2010 @ 18:00 till Sunday, 04 April at 22:00

Where:-Kings Place
90 York Way
Kings Cross
London
UK

www.darbar.org.uk

Darbar on Facebook

A taste of last years festival, much of which was recorded and broadcast by SKY arts channel.

Ashirvad will be previewing their new album at dates planned in Spain and London.

Association Cultural Furthur have invited us to spread the love vibrations at their magic multi-cultural festival just outside Madrid at the end of this month.  Their beautiful energy will guarantee a cosmic weekend.  3 Daze of magic gathering with Live Acts, Djs, Vjs, Swimming pool, Chai, Market, Restaurant,Camping Area, Beds & Showers, Circus, Theatre, Organic-art, Workshops,  Ambient Lectures and more…

Date :September 27th – 29th 2009

Venue : La Chopera, Madrid

At Inspiral Lounge, London,  Sangita Sounds present Ashirvad, a kaleidoscopic musical mandala of sonic nectar.  Join us for a celebration in sound fusing and innovating in the traditions of Bengali dub, ambient raga, indian folk, devotional & classical music and psychedelic electronica.

Date : October 9th 2009, 8pm – 1:30am

Venue : Inspiral Lounge, Camden, London, UK

Admission : free

http://ravensait.org.uk/

Ravens Ait is an Island in the River Thames, near Kingston, London.  With a venue built on it several unsuccessful businesses having gone bankrupt and the local authority leaving it derelict for years, the Rainbow Circle Community decided to take it over and begin using it as an Eco-Conference centre and community resourse.  Having visited there recently we were delighted by the various activities, skills sharing, and community workshops happening there.  A wonderful resource for local and international people alike.

Sangita Sounds are honoured to have been invited to host workshops and meditation &  relaxation based music events.  Stay tuned for more news.

Facing Eviction by the local authority, we urge you to take a stand for positive community space.

Ravens Tree Grove

SAVE RAVEN’S AIT ISLAND FOR US ALL

We want Raven’s Ait to be a community centre for you! But we need your support to make it happen. There are lots of ways in which you can get involved or show your support and the first, really easy way is to email, phone or write to Kingston council.

They need to know that the local community and beyond are right behind this project and are ready to demonstrate their solidarity with those eager to keep this island as a productive eco community centre for all.

Just one phone call from you might swing this debate and ensure that this wonderful space is rescued from being sold off to property developers and lost forever.

ACT NOW TO SAVE OUR COMMON LAND!

If you support the vision for Raven’s Ait as an eco community space where we as a collective can put into practice the concepts of sustainable living, permaculture, skills sharing, workshops and providing a community space for groups to meet and network, then PLEASE take five minutes to let the council know how you feel. They don’t know if you don’t tell them.

CALL: Bruce McDonald, Chief Executive Kingston Council 0208 547 5151

Gerry Sevenoaks, Head of Strategic Services 0208 547 5175

EMAIL: bruce.mcdonald@rbk.kingston.gov.uk

mayorsoffice@rbk.kingston.gov.uk

WRITE: The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Guildhall, High Street, Kingston

upon Thames KT1 1EU

DEFEND YOUR COMMUNITY SPACE!

We welcome visits between 12 – 7pm every day. For a guided tour, cuppa and a chat get in touch with Nick 079646729222, Rick 07791042078, Camilla 07900800055 or Phoenix 07769791387 or hail the ferryman from across the water. Check out our website www.ravensait.org.uk for latest updates, events and videos and to see our proposal to the council. You can also join our facebook group:ravensait