Robert Browning Associates opens the fall season with master violinist/vocalist/composer L. Shankar (aka Shenkar), who is renowned for his deeply soulful performances of Indian classical music. Since playing his first solo concert at the age of seven, he has gone on to accompany many of South India’s leading vocalists and become a major soloist.
In the 1970s, with John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, Vikku Vinayakram and Ramnad Raghavan, he co-founded the legendary Indo-jazz group Shakti. In the 1980s, he introduced a 10-string double violin capable of covering the whole range of the orchestra’s string section from violin to double bass.
To date he has continued to expand the international audience for Indian music, often combining North Indian (Hindustani) and South Indian (Carnatic) styles.
He will be accompanied by V. Selvaganesh (mridangam – double-headed barrel drum, kanjira – small frame drum, konakkol – vocal percussion), the revered percussionist who was a member of Remember Shakti and toured with Zakir Hussain’s Masters of Percussion; Amit Kavthekar, who studied with Alla Rakha and Zakir Hussain, and is regarded as one of the top-ranking tabla (tuned hand drums) players of his generation; and Swaminathan Selvaganesh (kanjira, konakkol), who has been lauded as one of the top kanjira players of his generation. The program is being presented in honor of the great late tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, a giant in Indian and world music.
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Made possible in part with a grant from the Howard Gilman Foundation.
Community sponsor: Sneh Arts