Pandit Jasraj Cometh to Austin

By Vaibhav Jain 27 October 2008 497 views One Comment

What: Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj in Concert

When: Saturday, November 1 at 6:00 pm

Where: Texas School for Deaf (www.tsd.state.tx.us) T

Tickets: https://www.sulekha.com/ticketsV3/buytickets.aspx?cid=549580

This is the weekend that every Hindustani music lover in Austin has been waiting for since the beginning of Fall. The Indian Classical Music Circle of Austin (ICMCA) proudly presents the legend of Hindustani Shastriya Sangeet (North Indian Classical Music), Pandit Jasraj, on Saturday, November 1^st. Slated to begin at 6 pm at the Texas School for the Deaf, this event is the culmination of 16 years of service that ICMCA has done for Shastriya sangeet in Austin. Panditji will be accompanied on the Tabla by Pt. Samir Chatterjee while Tripti Mukherjee and Suman Ghosh will handle the Vocal support and Tanpura respectively.

Hailing from a small town called Hissar in Haryana, India, Pandit Jasraj is widely recognized as the foremost exponent of the ‘Mewati’ style that emphasizes the lyrical and the emotional content in classical music. Pandit Jasraj is among the most lauded of contemporary Hindustani musicians. He has earned the title of ‘Sangeet Martand’¹, and has been awarded the Padma Vibushan², Sangeet Kala Ratna, Sangeet Natak Academy Award, Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar, and Dinanath Mangeshkar Award among many others³.

However, these awards don’t do justice to his genius; one that isn’t bound by his talafuz (pronunciation), clarity in sur (notes) or his ability to effortlessly span over three and a half saptaks (equivalent of octave) as many a critic would point out. To the ardent, he transcends all these dimensions and his soul-stirring voice communicates so freely with the audience/listener that they are simply left mesmerized.

Apart from his credentials, his commitment to the cause of music has been exemplary. It is one of the tragic facts with Hindustani Shastriya Sangeet that, more often than not, teachers and artists do not pass on their craft to the next generation.Why the title Sangeet Martand suits Pandit Jasraj the most is because he selflessly passes on his knowledge to a large number of students and has taken care to ensure a longer life for his style.

The event has been organized by the Indian Classical Music Circle of Austin (ICMCA), a 501(c)non-profit cultural organization and has been funded in part through the ‘Cultural Arts Division’ of the City of Austin and the ‘Texas Commission on the Arts’. ‘Nazar – A South Asian Perspective’ is the official media partner of ICMCA for this project.

For more information visit www.icmca.org.

Footnotes:

1 The Sun of Music

2 the second highest civilian honor in India

3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandit_Jasraj#Honors

Photo Courtesy: Shubnam

Most Commented Articles:

Vaibhav Jain is a classified Junior majoring in Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. He is an enigmatic catastrophe who graced this world on a Wednesday, minutes past the stroke of midnight. He likes to read, listen to and watch unorthodox creations, and he types slower than an average college student in the 20th century.
Articles by Vaibhav Jain

Email This Article