The World Music Institute Concludes 2014-15 Season with SONGS OF TAGORE, Featuring Rezwana Chowdhury Bannya, 6/6

The World Music Institute concludes its 2014-15 season with Songs of Tagorefeaturing Rezwana Choudhury Bannya on Saturday, June 6, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. atSymphony Space.

Rabindranath Tagore was the great Bengali poet who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. He championed a religion of man and sang of humanity's common bond, and is the only poet in the world whose poems were adopted as national anthems by two countries (India and Bangladesh). More than 150 years after his birth, his "elegant prose and beautiful poetry" continue to inspire generations of people of all cultures. Tagore was also a great composer, having written and composed over 3,000 songs.

Singer Rezwana Choudhury Bannya is one of the greatest exponents of Tagore's music. She studied at Shantiniketan, the school in West Bengal (India) that Tagore had set up at the turn of the 20th century. Herself a professor of music, Ms. Choudhury has spent the last 35 years bringing ­Tagore's music and its message to the world through concert ­appearances, lectures and recordings, including Sruti ­Gitabitan, a collection of 2222 Tagore songs in 22 DVDs.

Co-presented with Muktadhara Foundation and Channel-i

Rezwana Choudhury Bannya talks about her journey:

"I was born in Rangpur, Bangladesh. Since my childhood I have been attracted to music which quickly grew into a passion with the encouragement and help of my parents. My early singing lessons started with my uncle Abdul Ali that continued later under the tutelage of Sanjita Khatun and Atiqul Islam at Chayanat and Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts (BAFA) in Dhaka. As I continued taking lessons in music and singing, I also joined the Economics Program at the university after completion of my schooling. However, soon my inner- self came to the realization that music is my destiny. I received a scholarship from Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) to study in Shanitiniketan, the university that was founded by Tagore himself on his philosophy of complete natural learning. My true love with Rabindra Sangeet started at Shantiniketan and only became deeper by the days under the loving care of all of my gurus such as Kanika Bandyopadhya (affectionately known as Mohordi), Neelima Sen, Shoilajaranjan Mazumdar, Shantidev Ghosh, Gora Sarbadhikary, Manju Bandyopadhyay and Asesh Bandyopadhyay.

It was Mohordi who infused the true love for Rabindra Sangeet in me by taking me under her loving and nurturing care. Everything that I have achieved today is because of her; she was indeed the guiding beacon in my life, my true guru:-the friend, philosopher and guide. My relationship with her is beyond the traditional guru-shishya relationship. It is something very special that defies description and can only be in the feelings inside my heart.

Advised and inspired by Mohordi, I took the bold step of opening "Shurer Dhara", a music school, in 1992 with the vision of carrying out the guru-shishya parampara of Shantiniketan style of Ranbindra Sangeet in Bangladesh. It is indeed a challenging endeavor and combined with my professional career, keeps me busy in every moment of my life. I really enjoy my work, but I also love to steal moments from my busy daily life to spend time with family and friends."

TICKETS

Tickets for all World Music Institute events are available for purchase online at www.worldmusicinstitute.org, by calling (212) 545-7536, or in person at the WMI Box Office at 101 Lafayette Street, #801.

Student and group discounts are available, as are VIP tickets for select events. Discounts are also available for WMI Friends with memberships starting at $70. WMI Friends enjoy priority seating throughout the season.

ABOUT WMI

www.worldmusicinstitute.org

"a widely copied and influential force in New York cultural circles."
- The New York Times

Founded in 1985 as a not-for-profit, World Music Institute has served as the leading presenter of world music and dance within the United States. For the past 30 years, WMI has built the most comprehensive concert series of diverse music and dance performances, presenting the finest in traditional and contemporary music and dance from around the world. WMI encourages cultural exchange between nations and ethnic groups and collaborates with community organizations and academic institutions in fostering greater understanding of the world's cultural traditions. WMI works extensively with community groups and organizations including Indian, Iranian, Chinese, Korean, Middle Eastern, Latin American, Hungarian, Irish, and Central Asian. This has enabled WMI to be at the forefront of presenting the finest ensembles from these countries.

WMI curates a full season of concerts each year in New York City in venues throughout the city, including Symphony Space, Town Hall, Roulette, Skirball Performing Arts Center at NYU, New York City Center, Le Poisson Rouge, the Rose Theater (Jazz at Lincoln Center), and Carnegie Hall. It has presented more than 1,500 concerts and events featuring artists from more than 100 countries including Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East. Many concerts have been presented as thematic series; these have included Global Salon, The Musical World of Islam, Masters of Indian Music, Dancing The Gods, Africa in the Americas, Music around the Mediterranean, and National Heritage Masters.

In addition to its regular programming, WMI has brought many musical, dance and ritual traditions to the New York or U.S. stage for the first time, including Laotian sung poetry, folk music of Khorason and Bushehr (Iran), songs of the Yemenite Jews, Bardic divas of Central Asia, trance ceremonies from Morocco, music from Madagascar, and Theyyams (masked dances) of Kerala, South India.

Photo Courtesy of the World Music Institute

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!