Darbar Festival 2010

With four days of back-to-back concerts at London’s Kings Place and performances around the UK, the Darbar Festival is an unmissable opportunity to immerse yourself in India’s traditional music. With more than 40 artists in the programme, representing both the North Indian Hindustani and the South Indian Carnatic traditions, Darbar is the largest Indian classical music event in Europe. At Kings Place, London (1-4 April 2010) performances begin at 10am and end late at night and include workshops, free events and films.

Zubeidaa

This year Darbar opens with an east-west musical premiere featuring the soprano Patricia Rozario and Veena Sahasrabuddhe, one of the finest female vocalists from the North Indian classical tradition. Other highlights include the celebrated santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma; flute player Sunil Kant Gupta; one of India’s finest sitar players, Kushal Das, and the brilliant Pandit Anindo Chatterjee on tabla. From the world of dhrupad, the oldest surviving musical style in India, the amazing Gundecha Brothers. And from the south Indian Carnatic genre, the festival presents the spell-binding singing of sisters Ranjani and Gayatri, tavil maestro, R.K. Palanivel and innovative veena player Rajhesh Vaidhya.

Beyond London, there are performances in Leicester, Gateshead, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Milton Keynes. And the “Darbar Unplugged” concert at Cobham’s Yehudi Menuhin Hall presents acoustic sessions where audiences get a chance to hear the music the way it was performed in the great Mughal courts.

The Darbar programme offers concerts which will surely be among the most magical and inspiring shows presented in the UK this year. If you have never attended an Indian classical music concert before, Darbar is highly recommended as an impeccable introduction. Meanwhile check out the recommended playlist from festival directors Sandeep Virdee and Kulbir Natt.

www.darbar.org.uk

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