Mumbai 2023: Indian music with its rich legacy of over three millennia, has always had a pride of place in the art world.

The NCPA embraces all the major strands of Indian music and continues to feature a wide spectrum of artistes – from up-and-coming to top-ranking and living legends. The range of genres is equally diverse – from pure classical, and semi-classical to devotional, light, regional, folk and cross-over music. The unique thematic element associated with each property makes it exclusive. Over the past decade, NCPA’s thematically curated Indian music festivals have been appreciated by artistes as well as audiences worldwide.

Upcoming Events in May 2023:

Hindustani Classical Vocal Music Recital 
By Prasad Khaparde 
When: Friday, 12th May 2023, 6.30 pm
Where: Godrej Dance Academy Theatre 
Tickets: Book My Show 
About the Artist: Prasad Khaparde is a senior disciple of Rashid Khan, one of the most acclaimed vocalists of the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana. He is recognised as an All India Radio A-grade artiste and is empanelled with the ICCR in New Delhi. He has been a scholar at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata. He holds a master’s degree in Indian classical vocal music from Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University. Khaparde has performed at several prestigious festivals including the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav in Pune, the Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar Sangeet Samaroha in Goa and the Mandu Festival in Madhya Pradesh, among others. He has collaborated with several Indian and global artistes including Amol Palekar, Nitin Sawhney and the Manganiyars and has toured around the world. He has taught at the Kala Academy in Goa and is currently teaching several disciples from India and abroad.

Citi-NCPA Promising Artiste Series  
When: Friday, 19th May, 2023, 6.30 pm
Where: Experimental Theatre 
Duration: 90 minutes 
Admission is on a first-come-first-served basis  
Artists:

Smit Tiwari (Sarod) 
Aditya Apte (Khayal)

At the age of five, Nainital-based Smit Tiwari started learning dhrupad and tabla from his mother Chhaya Tiwari. He has been learning the sarod for the last 12 years, first from his father Chandra Shekhar Tiwari and, since the age of nine, from Suprahat Pal of the Maihar gharana. He has won the first prize in the Pradeshik Sangeet Pratiyogita organised by Sangeet Natak Academy, Lucknow, and, among other accolades, was awarded the National Scholarship for Young Artist 2010 by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. He was awarded the Citi-NCPA Scholarship for Young Musicians for the year 2016-17.

Aditya Apte was initiated into music by his parents when he was very young. They noticed his appetite to learn and later, started to teach him vocal music. He has trained with Maneesha Madhusudan Apte (vocal), Madhusudan Dinkar Apte (vocal) and Pradeep Barot (sarod). He is a shishya of Ulhas Kashalkar as a part of Citi-NCPA Support to Gurus initiative. Apte has performed on many prestigious platforms across India and possesses the zeal, zest and endeavour to keep learning and share what is learnt. He is a co-founder of Shree Madhav Sangeet Vidyalaya’s School of Performing Arts and conducts online as well as offline lessons in Hindustani classical vocal as well as sarod. He has won several awards including gold medals in youth festivals. Apte was the recipient of the Hridayesh Award in 2015 and the Acharya Allauddin Khan Memorial Award in 2016.

NCPA-HSBC Music Workshop 
Understanding the art of Composing (Part 1) 
A free online workshop on Zoom by Shantanu Moitra 
Saturday, May 20, 11.30 am 
Free registration starts on 24th April 2023  
To register:  Write to indianmusicworkshops@ncpamumbai.com  
Supported by HSBC  

About the Workshop: Composition is the mainstay of music performance in any tradition. There is no music without composition. It is significant therefore, to understand what constitutes a composition, and how it really takes shape in the hands of a composer. In today’s world, being a composer is regarded as a valid career option for talented musicians, and thus, it becomes equally important to understand the attributes of a composer.

In the first session of this 2-part series, Shantanu Moitra will present his viewpoint about what makes a successful composer and how does one identify the composer within. He will also delve into the building blocks of composing, the tools used, and distinct approaches that need to be adopted while composing for various media. Citing examples from his own work, he will share insights into his approach to compositions. 

About Shantanu Moitra: Starting with advertisement jingles, Shantanu Moitra went on to compose music for landmark films including some award-winning works like Parineeta, 3-Idiots, Pink, Lage raho Munnabhai and others. He has also to his credit independent albums like Ab ke Saawan,  and Gulzar translates Tagore. Furthermore, Shantanu Moitra has uniquely married his adventures and music to create 100 days in Himalaya and Songs of the river, based on climbing up the great mountains and cycling down the mighty Ganga.

Music Mirror: Documentary films on music 
‘Pandit Rajeev Taranath – A Life in Music’ 
Screening followed by Q-A with the director, Amshan Kumar 
Duration: 40 min 
Language: English 
Where: Little Theatre, 
When: Friday, May 26, 6.30 pm 
Entry free on first come first served basis. 

About:  The documentary, ‘Pandit Rajeev Taranath – A Life in Music’, is a tribute to the musical genius of Rajeev Taranath, an illustrious disciple of the sarod maestro, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan of Maihar Senia Allauddin gharana.

The documentary includes the musical journey of Rajeev Taranath as narrated by himself. Recounting his life, first as a child prodigy in vocal music and then taking up the sarod, he reveals the path he undertook as a sarod player and his teaching of the art. He also shares his views on originality of musical expression, the Guru- shishya parampara and approach to understanding of classical Hindustani music.

Some of the highlights of the film are: interviews of eminent musicians and people closely associated with him, rare documents and clippings of Rajeev Taranath’s concerts over the years, and his most recent public performance captured live.

The screening will be followed by Q-A with the filmmaker & writer, Amshan Kumar, who has directed this documentary.