Mita Nag, Hassan Haider & Subhen Chatterjee Sing Classical Indian Musical In Concert

Robert Browning Associates celebrates 42 years of presenting world music in New York with three internationally renowned performers of Indian music, Mita Nag, Hassan Haider & Subhen Chatterje performing Classical Music of India on Saturday, September 29, 2018 at 8:00pm at Roulette, 509 Atlantic Avenue at 3rd Avenue, Downtown Brooklyn.

Tickets: $30; $26 students, seniors
Box office: 917-267-0363

This special concert brings together three outstanding performers of Indian music and provides an opportunity to hear the shehnai (oboe), an instrument rarely heard in the Indian classical repertoire today. Featured are Mita Nag, a master of improvisation, who comes from a famous family of musicians, including her father, veteran sitarist Manilal Nag, and grandfather, master musician Gokul Nag; the brilliant shehnai player Hassan Haider, son and disciple of the famed maestro Ali Ahmed Hussain, who has performed and toured internationally with his father and other notable artists; and Subhen Chatterjee, a powerful tabla player and disciple of Swapan Chaudhuri, who has appeared with many of India's major artists.

The trio of shehnai, sitar (lute) and tabla (drums) will be featured together throughout the concert. The first half of the program will feature ragas opening with alap (unmetered improvisation without tabla); in the second half, the artists will perform light classical pieces, including compositions by Girija Devi. The concert is performed in tribute to this late legendary singer.

Mita Nag, the sixth generation sitar player in her family, belongs to the Vishnupur gharana (tradition) of Bengal, which retains the depth, resonance and vitality of the ancient meditative dhrupad style. She was initiated into music at the age of four, and began her early training under the guidance of her mother who was a disciple of Gokul Nag. Her grandfather's encouragement and instructions through singing had much influence on her early reception of music, most noticeably, associating the instrument with song. Her tutelage under her father Manilal Nag started at the age of six. Since making her debut performance at the age of ten, she has performed as a soloist and in duet with her father in major cities of India, the US, Canada, Japan, and Europe. In the same year as her debut, she won the Junior National Talent Search Award of the Government of India. She is the founder of the Gokul Nag Memorial Foundation, a trust for the preservation and promotion of Hindustani classical music.

Hassan Haider, born in Kolkata (Calcutta), comes from a famous family of shehnai performers who represented this art form for generations. He received his training in the Benaras and Senia gharanas from his father Ali Ahmed Hussain, and also studied with Arvind Parikh, the famous sitar maestro from the school of Imdad Khan, Enayat Khan and Vilayat Khan. Hassan's great-grandfather Wazir Ali Khan was a musician of distinction who in 1910 was the first artist to perform the shehnai at Buckingham Palace in London. Haider has regularly been featured on Indian radio and television and performed at many important music festivals and venues in India, including the Autumn Festival of Dance and Music in celebration of India's 50th year of independence, and the Sangeet Natak Academy in Pune. He has toured and performed with his father in various countries outside India, including the US, Canada, the UK, France, Switzerland, and Belgium.

Subhen Chatterjee bases his style of playing on the Lucknow gharana that he studied with his illustrious guru, maestro Swapan Chaudhuri. Not restricting himself to a single gharana, he went on to learn the intricacies and beauty of other gharanas, which he introduced into his playing. He has been acclaimed for his distinctive style and his work as a soloist and with many of India's finest singers and instrumentalists, including Bhimsen Joshi, Girija Devi, V. G. Jog and Pandit Jasraj. He also created the fusion bands Karma and Friends of Drums (with Sivamani).

This concert is supported in part with public funding provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State legislature.

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