Travelling music fest to bring illustrious musicians to Chennai

Renowned Sitar exponent Niladri Kumar grew up watching and appreciating the legendary tabla player Zakir Hussain perform at various concerts. Years later, the two musicians together leave the audience spellbound with the combined powers of their instruments. It is still a learning journey for him while working with the globally popular percussionist, says Niladri, ahead of their concert in Chennai. As the inventor of the electric sitar named Zitar, Niladri, who started learning to play the sitar from his father Kartick Kumar when he was only four, has been attempting to get the younger generations take interest in classical arts.

“Working with Zakir sahib is like one of the things you don’t dream of, or work towards, because it seems too big a mountain to scale. As a kid, I used to watch him perform. And, when I actually started the journey of playing with him, I have been learning. There is so much to learn about music from him (Zakir) and the experience is beyond words,” Niladri tells DT Next. The master musicians will be performing in the city as part of the National Centre for the Performing Arts’ (NCPA) travelling fest, ‘Citi NCPA Aadi Anant:From Here to Eternity’on January 12.

Through the performance, the musicians are expected to explore the sonic space together, setting aside the conventional hierarchy of the instruments. The fest, which also features musicians like Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shiv Kumar Sharma, TM Krishna, R Kumaresh and Jayanthi Kumaresh, will travel to other cities like Bengaluruand Pune.

While performing with the tabla virtuoso, Niladri says improvisation to the raga they play could be done either five minutes before the concert or a few days in ahead. “What we do is set a raga, and have different plans to explore the raga. On numerous occasions, what is planned and explored on stage is different. But, the improvisation is usually something we would have visited before,” he elaborates. “While performing for travelling fests, what is needed is a fresh approach for people to come and hear, as they would have heard our other concerts before,” adds Niladri, who also composes music for Hindi films.

Recalling his recent concert in Pune for the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav, the musician notes a keen interest among youngsters in classical music, as against to the popular belief that the young aren’t taking to traditional art forms. “I noticed a huge number of young people attending the concert. Chennai is a classic example of how Indian culture and traditions can be ingrained in people’s households. Even with English education, I see people in the city being steeped in Indian culture — with everyone making an attempt to learn music or an instrument,” he remarks. The fifth generation sitar player, who gave his first public concert when he was six in Puducherry, also performed on Chennai’s Elliots Beach earlier. “My earliest memories of Chennai are very strong, as the first decade of my life was spent more in Chennai than any other I remember the street food on the beaches,” he adds.

The performance will be held on January 12 at Music Academy Auditorium from 6.30 pm onwards.