'An Indian Odyssey' Comes to Scarsdale

Hoff-Barthelson Music School invites the public to its second annual Global Harmonies concert series, Music from Around the World, on Sunday, October 6 at 2 pm at the Music School, 25 School Lane, Scarsdale. The program is open to the public free of charge.

Music, the connective tissue of melody, harmony and rhythm, acknowledges our individuality, celebrates our diversity, and has the power to inspire global understanding.  Over the course of this new series of annual concerts, every country and culture will be represented, creating a colorful mosaic of sound that touches the human spirit and unifies our journey on this planet.

The Music School is proud to present there of the most celebrated of today’s generation of Indian classical performers.

Hidayat Hussain Khan, sitar and vocals: Multidimensional is the word to describe Hidayat Hussain Khan, a master sitar player and vocalist well-versed in the gayaki ang, a style of learning to play the sitar through singing that was developed by his late father, Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan, of the "Imdadkhani-Etawah Gharana", a lineage spanning seven generations of vocal and instrumental court musicians. Khan, who was trained in the "gayaki ang" from the age of four, also has a comprehensive knowledge of voice and composition, in addition to his virtuoso command of the sitar. Khan has composed several film scores and performed in numerous classical and fusion concerts in Europe, Japan, USA, Canada, South-East Asia and India, independently and in collaboration with the Rolling Stones, Alicia Keys, Usher, Zakir Hussain, Pete Townshend, Will.I.Am, Jay Z and Darryl Jones.

Avirodh Sharma, tabla: Mr. Sharma is one of the leading  players from the West Indies promoting the tradition of rhythm as he incorporates West Indian rhythmic elements with Indian Classical melodic and percussive overtones, which makes him extraordinary as a percussionist. Trained by his father Dr. Ravideen Ramsamooj (Managing Director of the East Indian Music Academy Inc.) in Tabla and Indian Classical Music, with his blessings incorporated influences from tabla virtuosos, Ustad Zakir Hussain and Pandit Anindo Chatterjee with Avirodh's own research to evolve and display a unique aesthetic in rhythm.

Jharna Rastogi, dancer: Ms. Rastogi is the Co-Director of 'Timeless Music', a performing arts organization, established in Princeton, NJ in 2000, and has dedicated her life to explore, enrich and promote the performing and visual arts of India. Her productions reflect a unique combination with experimentation of the classical and contemporary, presenting ancient Indian traditions in new versions for modern audiences. She has choreographed, orchestrated and performed classical and semi-classical dances for noted dignitaries (including New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey) for over two decades. She  learnt her classical style under the tutelage of Ambika Sukumaran, (who is an accomplished film star and classical dancer herself). Today, apart from enchanting audiences by being a dancer/ choreographer, she also has her third degree Reiki (the Grand Master level), White light, and Transcendental meditation which allow her to help her students and private clients achieve a sense of clarity, focus, harmony of oneself, and an overall state of well being

The Hoff-Barthelson Music School, one of Westchester County’s most cherished and active cultural resources, has achieved national recognition as a premier community music school for its unsurpassed leadership in education, performance and outreach for more than half a century.

For more information on this concert or other HBMS programs: 914-723-1169, hb@hbms.org, www.hbms.org

Thanks to Terry Joshi for the preceding news.