Arts Centre Melbourne, Multicultural Arts Victoria And Bunjil Place Present The Southbank Dawn Raga Series

After the successful pilot season of The Southbank Dawn Raga Series earlier this year, Arts Centre Melbourne and Multicultural Arts Victoria announce its return by popular demand along with a new partnership with Bunjil Place.

As we enter the warmer, summer months Melburnians will be able to start their day outdoors at 7:30am on the Arts Centre Melbourne Main Lawn - where Inge King's Forward Surge is situated - to awaken their senses through the blissful sounds of Indian classical music.

The series aims to celebrate Indian music through incredible musicianship that evokes feelings of love and generosity in the intimate, early morning setting. The response from the previous series was overwhelmingly positive, with some saying they felt "calm, happy, motivated and great", while for others it was "spiritually uplifting" as they found fulfilment in the simplest act of a music-led meditation and concert.

Designed by Arts Centre Melbourne and Multicultural Arts Victoria, this free activity will encourage city goers to energise and prepare for the day ahead through the tranquil and uplifting rhythms of Indian music. A Raga is an improvised array of melodic structures, which originated in the regions of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and is said to evoke feelings of calm in a meditative state.

From 10 December 2019 until 20 March 2020, the bi-monthly morning sessions will feature Melbourne-based Indian musicians Jay Dabgar (Tabla), Jayshree Ramachandran (vocals), Subramanya Sastry (flute), Vinod Prasanna (flute) and special guests yet to be announced.

For the February and March sessions, The Southbank Dawn Raga Series will form part of the Asia TOPA Public Program, allowing deeper connections to the Indian culture during a festival aimed at sharing the contemporary imagination and lived experience of artists and creative thinkers from the Asia-Pacific region.

Asia TOPA is a joint initiative of the Sidney Myer Fund and Arts Centre Melbourne with support from the Australian and Victorian governments. With major seed funding from the Sidney Myer Fund, Arts Centre Melbourne has initiated a landmark collaboration with Melbourne's community of culture makers and national arts leaders to introduce powerful new voices from Asia to our stages. Asia TOPA takes place from January to March 2020.

For more information visit artscentremelbourne.com.au