Saturday, May 8, 2004, 7:00 pm

HHH Cowles Auditorium
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

(For driving and parking directions please see below.)

Tickets:

Advance: Students/Seniors $10.00, General $15.00
Gate:       Students/Seniors $12.00, General $17.00

About the artists:

Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain is a consummate master of the Shehnai, a double reed wind instrument that is closest in timbre to the Saxophone. Ali Ahmed Hussain might well be the last of the great Shehnai players. His stature and popularity rest on his equal mastery over classical and the traditional semi-classical and folk music repertoire of the Shehnai. His grandfather, the late Ustad Wazir Ali was the first Indian classical musician to demonstrate the Shehnai at Buckingham Palace and was honored with an award in 1910 by Pandit Motilal Nehru. His father, the late Ustad Ali Jan, and uncles, the late Ustad Nazir Hussain and the late Ustad Imdad Hussain (from whom he learnt) were all renowned Shehnai specialists. Ustad Ali Ahmad Hussain is a renowned artiste of All India Radio and regularly features in special Sunday morning recitals and national programs. He is also a regular T.V. artiste in India, who was asked to perform at the inauguration ceremony of Indian T.V. at Vigyan Bhavan, Delhi in 1973; and to play the signature tune for T.V., composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar. He has participated at every major classical music conference and has been presented with numerous awards. He has performed in several very interesting duet productions, including one with late Ustad Munnawar Ali Khan (vocalist and son of the late Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan) at the India Music Society Festival in 1979; an east-west piano duet with Peter Michael Hamel at an Indo-German Festival; a violin duet with Pandit V.G. Jog at the Birla Planetarium, Calcutta; and a sitar duet with Ustad Vilayat Khan in 1986 in Bombay, which was video recorded for the T.V. serial "Dhwani". He has also provided Shehnai playback in many Indian films. Ustad Ali Ahmad Hussain has toured widely in Europe in 1976-77, 1984, 1992 and 1994. In 1988-89, he toured extensively in all the countries of South-East Asia on the invitation of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. In 1994, 1998 and 2001 he toured the U.S.A. and Canada. He opened the Sangeet Research Academy's section on Shehnai in 1978 in Calcutta. He is a regular Shehnai artiste for recording labels such as the Gramaphone Company of India (HMV), Nataraj (Germany), Concord, Sagarika, Gathani, T. Series etc. who have produced many solo L.P. and E.P. discs and compact discs featuring him. Soft, subtle and sweet tone presented in melodious and mellifluous patterns are some of the salient characteristics of Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain's playing. Retaining the purity of the Raga also depicts his solid traditional background. Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain is also a man of legendary simplicity, which, to those who know him well, springs from his utter devotion to his craft and the complete sublimation of his self in his music.

Pandit Ramesh Misra is one of India's outstanding instrumentalists and a master of one of the most difficult and unique string instruments, the Sarangi. He started his initial intensive training at a very tender age from his father Pt. Ramnath Misra and acquired further knowledge and training from some of the finest musicians of the Beneras Gharana such as Pt. Hanuman Prasad Mishra and Pt. Gopal Mishra. Presently he is under the tutelage of the legendary Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Sankar. Ramesh's high aesthetic sense and artistic sensibilities have brought him wide recognition both at home and abroad as an eminent soloist as well as an adept accompanist. His music enthralls the global audience. Ramesh has been honored with several awards including the prestigious Sangeet Natak Academy Award. In 1959, Ramesh was sent as a cultural delegate to Pakistan by the then Prime Minister of India Jawharlal Nehru. Pandit Ramesh Misra has traveled all over the world accompanying internationally reputed artists. In addition to his appearance in most of the major music festivals of the world he has featured in numerous recordings including his own solos and earned a niche in the hearts of millions of music lovers. Pandit Ramesh Misra is a very high-ranking and gifted artist, whose music takes the audience to a divine world, a world of pure music.

Subhen Chatterjee was trained in the style of the Lucknow Gharana (stylistic school or tradition) of Tabla by his illustrious Guru Tabla maestro Pandit Swapan Chowdhury. Not restricting himself to a single Gharana, Subhen went on to learn the intricacies & beauty of other Gharanas that he introduced in his playing & which has made his style of playing so unique & distinctive. Subhen, one of the finest tabla players of this generation, has already accompanied such outstanding musicians as Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Smt. Girija Devi, Pt. Jasraj, Smt. Sobha Gurtu, Pt. V. G. Jog, Pt. Rajan-Sajan Misra, Ustad Rashid Khan, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Pt. Viswa Mohan Bhatt, Ustad Ashish Khan, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Pt. Manilal Nag, Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain Khan, Sri. Ronu Mazumder and many others and has earned a very good name both from the audience as well as the press. Subhen is also a fine soloist. Subhen has also had the distinction of being one of the very few tabla players to have been participating regularly for the past few years in WOMAD (World Organisation of Music & Dance, founded by renowned guitar player Mr. Peter Gabriel) by collaborating with such distinguished artistes such as Paul Horn (Flautist), Mr. David Cosby (of Crosby, Still, Nash & Young fame) etc. Subhen has also created India’s leading fusion band, KARMA, (in the year 1985) which is still the only of its kind from the eastern part of India. Subhen’s recent collaborations with renowned percussionist, SIVAMANI, have enabled him to form another unique fusion band called FRIENDS OF DRUMS (F.O.D) whose main objective is to help the lesser known yet very talented musicians sharing stage with renowned ones. F.O.D.   has also planned for supporting old and handicapped musicians who had served the music world for years, financially.

Directions and parking:

The Cowles Auditorium is in the Hubert H. Humphrey Center in the West-Bank Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota. The parking ramp closest to the venue is the 19th Ave. ramp.

Directions to the 19th Ave. ramp.

Contact:

Ravi Ravichandran               (651) 730-8313
Shivanthi Sathanandan         (651) 698-0774

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