In its next concert on March 20 -- "Imaginary Intersections: Raga & Raj" -- the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival plans to take its audience on an imaginary journey back to late 18th-century India.In the mysterious Kingdom of Oudh near Calcutta, the fashion of the 1780s turned toward the ‘Hindostannie Air’, leading British musicians to perform amorous melodies and dance tunes of North India on European instruments.
Barry Phillips, a Ravi Shankar trained composer/performer of classical Indian music, has created a new work for early instruments which re-imagines this historical East-West encounter (world premiere). The fruits of this unique project will be premiered by the Baroque Festival's resident ensemble Lux Musica on early European instruments (flute, violin, viola da gamba, harpsichord), together with Barry Phillips on cello, accompanied by tabla (traditional Hindustani drums), tambourine, and finger cymbals.
The development and presentation of this project has been made possible by a grant from the Creative Work Fund of San Francisco, jointly awarded to the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival and Barry Phillips as collaborating artist.
Barry Phillips has written this Artist Statement: "In the past 13 years of assisting Ravi Shankar compose and notate Indian classical music for western instruments in western and Indian notation, I have been personally trained by Mr. Shankar in Hindustani music, both in composition and performance. This eastern musical experience mixes with other musical experiences including my life-long love of the European Baroque — in particular, harpsichord music.
I see this project as an experiment in overlapping time frames, in particular the modern, the experience of mixing Indian and western music by Ravi Shankar and his teacher, Baba Alauddin Khan in the 1940's-50's, and the well-documented musical encounters of eighteenth century Europeans in India with their harpsichords, flutes and fiddles with Indian musicians. This would make the new work more than an historical recreation of an imaginary mixing of east and west in music in eighteenth century India (though this was surely a reality to some extent). From the current musical point of view, it will also be as if all of the above moments can exist freely together."
WHEN: Saturday, March 20, at 7:30pm
WHERE: First Congregational Church (900 High Street, Santa Cruz) map
More info at www.scbaroque.org
Photo Credit: Lars Johannesson
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