Evening of classical Indian music vocals

The classical Indian instruments of the tabla, harmonium and swarmandal (Indian harp) will weave together with the soft vocals of one of India’s most renowned classical singers at the Oshwal Centre tomorrow night.

Pandit Ajay Pohankar (Pandit is a title of respect given to talented musicians) will perform a selection of ghazals and thumris, genres for which he is particularly praised because of his versatility in vocal modulations. The Ghazal is a poetic expression of pain or loss of love; the Thumri - a semi classical art form - is more romantic in nature and revolves around love for the Hindu god Krishna. Both genres are valued for their sensuality.

The evening performance organised by Navrang Arts Foundation, a volunteer group within Kenya’s Oshwal community, will feature a selection of new and old school melodies. “Panditji is extremely versatile in all forms of vocal modulations of all Gharana (musical ideologies) of India and he has accepted our request for demonstration of such during his performance. The vocal exhibit will also give us a little background into the ‘old’ and ‘new’ schools of vocals,” said Praful Varsani of Navrang Arts.

Pohankar will be accompanied on the tabla by Arvindkumar Azad, and on the harmonium by Nitin Sharma and Milind Kurkani. All three musicians are celebrated for their instrumental talents. Pohankar will play the Indian harp. “I’m mainly a vocalist of Indian classical music so I will be singing. But I play the Swarmandal (harp) while singing which gives me a sound of microtones much needed for me to sing in good pitch,” he told BDLife.

The 67-year-old musician has performed in North America, Europe and Africa and has over nine albums to his name, including Piya Bawari in which he and his son - Indian classical keyboardist Abhijit Pohankar - perform together.

Reflecting on his five decade long career in the musical arts, he said “I think it’s mainly persistence and lots of meditation. I also believe that music should come from the soul and not just from the body, so I have tried my best to sing soulfully over the years.”

That and his impeccable technique have earned him various accolades. The Indian government has repeatedly recognised his contributions to vocal stylings and most recently, Pohankar received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 2013, the highest award for performing artists from India’s National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.

He started vocal training at the age of five under the tutelage of his mother, a renowned musicologist and vocalist herself Dr Susheela Pohankar, and his inaugural performance was at the age of 10 at the Calcutta music conference.

This is Pohankar’s second visit to Kenya; the first was in 1996. He arrived in the country on Wednesday June 11. The performance begins at 5.15pm at the Oshwal Centre.

Tickets are available from Easy Surf, Sarit Centre for Sh2,000-Sh3,500.