Sarod maestro Ustad Aashish Khan will perform in the UAE for the first time at “Inner Voyage”, an Indian classical and fusion music concert to be held on June 28. He will be accompanied by acclaimed tabla player Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri and Dishari Chakraborty on the santoor, Arijit Tagore on the Pakhawaj and sarod player Shiraz Ali Khan. Madrid-based Indian dancer and choreographer Sohini Roychowdhury, whose multinational troupe Sohinimoksha is known for its unique blend of Flamenco and Bharat Natyam, will also perform at the event. Adding an Arabian flavour to the concert is eminent Emirati poet, Dr Shihab Ganem, who has written a poem especially for the event.
The charity concert has been organised by Heart & Soul Events under the patronage of Al Maktoum Foundation and Dubai Summer Surprises to celebrate International Seafarers’ Day (which falls on June 25), and to support the work of Mission To Seafarers. All proceeds from the event will be donated to The Angel Appeal, the fundraising arm of the organisation, to be used for the operation of the “Flying Angel”, a ship that provides vital services to seafarers.
The driving force behind the concert is long-time Dubai resident Lajwanti Gupta, who is the daughter of renowned sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, and the grand-daughter of Ustad Allaudin Khan, founder of the Maihar Gharana of north Indian classical music. “When I heard about the difficulties that seafarers have to face, and how the ‘Flying Angel’ reaches out to help them, I wanted to support this effort. My father always said that ‘music is an ocean’, and I thought that it would be wonderful to use this ocean that exists within us to help the men in the ocean. So I turned to my older brother Aashish Khan, who helped me bring all these great musicians together,” she says.
Music lovers can expect pure classical music as well as cutting-edge fusion music at the concert because Aashish Khan is a pioneer of World Music. The California-based, Grammy-nominated musician has collaborated with various musicians such as John Barnam, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Charles Lloyd, Alice Coltrane, Dallas Smith, Jorge Strunz and the Philadelphia String Quartet. In fact, this kind of experimentation is part of his legacy. His grandfather Allaudin Khan was known for experimenting with traditional classical music and transforming many instruments to suit his style. And his father Ali Akbar Khan can be credited with introducing classical Indian music to the Western world through his performances abroad, path-breaking collaborations with international musicians, and the Ali Akbar College of Music, which he opened in California in the 1960s.
Shiraz Ali Khan, who belongs to the fourth generation of this musical family, is the founder of Kolkata-based fusion band Indian Blue. The band, which includes percussionist Arijit Tagore and Santoor player Dishari Chakraborty, is known for blending Indian classical music with jazz, Western classical, blues, soft rock and other genres. Swapan Chaudhuri, who is the director of Percussion at the Ali Akbar College of Music, is also well known in the World Music arena and is the chairperson of the Department of World Music at the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles.
Similarly, Sohini Roychowdhury has created a unique fusion of Indian classical dance form Bharat Natyam and Spanish Flamenco. Her troupe, comprising dancers from Europe, the United States and Latin America will perform several pieces. But the highlight of the show will be their “Flamenco Natyam” performance to Dr Ganem’s Arabic poem, set to a piece of fusion music composed by Aashish Khan.
Adding another element to this interesting amalgam will be artist Subodh Potdar, who will capture the movements of the dancers in his paintings, some of which will be donated to The Angel Appeal. Dr. Ganem, who earlier this year became the first Arab to receive the International Tagore Peace Award, will be felicitated at the concert. The event will also provide a platform to talented Dubai-based performers such as Debabrato Chakraborty to showcase their talent.
Jyoti Kalsi is an arts enthusiast based in Dubai.
The Flying Angel
Mission To Seafarers is an international welfare organisation that helps seafarers in ports around the world, and has been working in the UAE for 51 years. “Seafarers play an essential role in the trade and commerce of a place, but they are almost invisible, because they are confined to the ships that ferry goods to and from the port. Our aim is to understand their problems and to help them. The issues we deal with range from unpaid wages and anxiety about piracy to facilitating repatriation of shipwreck survivors. We also offer them gifts on special occasions such as Ramadan, Iranian New Year and other festivals. Our role is particularly important in this region because there are no labour unions here to support them,” says Dr Paul Burt, managing director and senior chaplain, of the UAE chapter of Mission To Seafarers.
A special service offered by the mission in the UAE is “The Flying Angel”, which operates in the Fujairah anchorage and is the only ship of its kind in the world. Fujairah is the second largest anchorage in the world and there are more than 100 vessels parked off the port at any given time, with more than 3000 seafarers on board. “The Flying Angel”, which sails out to them, is their only connection with the outside world. The ship has a shop where seafarers can buy basic provisions, has free Internet access and phones for them to contact their families, a library that offers free books and DVDs in various languages, and a Welfare Officer, who they can discuss their problems with.
“It costs $22,812 (Dh83,720) per month to maintain and run this ship, which comes from corporate and individual donors and fundraising events. This concert has added a new dimension to our fundraising efforts. And we hope it will create greater awareness about our work,” says Theresa Dommett, fundraiser for The Angel Appeal.
Inner Voyage
Date & Time: June 28, 7pm
Venue: Dubai Women’s College of Higher Technology Campus Theatre, Dubai.
Tickets: priced at Dh150, Dh250 and Dh350, are available on Time Out website and the Mission to Seafarers website, http://www.angelappeal.com/
