Madan Gopal Singh, a treasure house of Sufi and folk poetry, will perform at SPIC-MACAY Bangalore Chapter's Virasat 2011 on September 5, 6 and 7 at six educational institutes in and around Bangalore.
Singh, a well-known name in the world of cinema, has been performing at national and international platforms, engaging audiences with his full-throated renderings of the immortal Sufi compositions and love legends of Punjab. His performances include a generous number of his skilful Punjabi translations of Rumi, Attar, Rilke, Neruda, Brecht, Tagore and even John Lennon.
Jam sessions
Singh has shared international platforms with Kurdish singer Shahram Nazeri; has performed with jazz singer and new music composer Theo Bleckmann; and has been an associate with percussionist David Cossin and double-bass player Gregg August. He has won acclaim for his recordings with well-known contemplative music artiste David Hykes. Besides being associated with films such as Kumar Shahani's Kasba and Khayal Gatha and Mani Kaul's Idiot , Singh has composed music for Khamosh Pani, a French-German-Pakistan co-production.
Student interaction
Virasat 2011 was inaugurated recently by violin maestro L. Subramaniam at the NIMHANS auditorium along with writer U.R. Ananthamurthy and retired Karnataka Director-General and Inspector-General of Police S.T. Ramesh.
Launched for the first time in 1995, Virasat invites classical music and dance maestros and master craftspersons to participate at the festival to enhance student interaction with them.
This year's Virasat, say the organisers, is dedicated to Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Ustad Asad Ali Khan, Ustad Fahimuddin Dagar, M.F. Husain, Mani Kaul and Ustad Mehmood Dholpuri.
Big names
Virasat 2011 will witness a line-up of some of the biggest artistes in the Indian music and dance fraternity. Those who will perform over the next four months include T.V. Shankaranarayanan (Carnatic vocal); Mysore Nagaraj and Mysore Manjunath (Carnatic violin); Keremane Shivananda Hegde (Yakshagana); Margi Madhu (Koodiyattam); Ustad Bahauddin Dagar (rudra veena); and Guru Ghanakanta Bora and troupe (Sattriya dance).
Singh will start his performances in the city on September 5, with his show at IIIT-B (Electronics City 4 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.) and Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Electronics City (7 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.).
Visit bengaluru@spicmacay.com or http://www.spicmacay.com/ for details.
