Ravi Shankar-Anoushka Come Full Circle At Atlanta Concert
The Flora Candler Concert Series, the long-standing classical concert series of Atlanta's Emory University, expanded this year to include more contemporary, jazz, and Indian music. A highlight of the series was "Full Circle," a sold out concert at the Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, on October 9 by legendary virtuoso sitarist Ravi Shankar and his prot�g�-daughter Anoushka.
Their Emory concert program included ragas Maru Bihag, Desh, and Mishra Piloo. Their accompanists were Tanmoy Bose and Arup Chattopadhyay on the tabla, and Nick Able and Shaylee Dave on the tanpura. Dave is a university student in Georgia.
The artists enjoyed standing ovations each time Ravi Shankar entered and exited the stage. The virtuoso announced the two and a half hour concert from stage. He also introduced the other performers and expressed his gratitude to the crowd and for this chance to return to Atlanta.
In celebration of Ravi Shankar's visit, the university offered the October 2003 Emory Ravi Shankar Mini-Festival. A documentary by producer Janie Weiner titled "Ravi Shankar: Between Two Worlds", was presented by the Department of Film Studies. To conclude the festival, the Emory Symphony Orchestra (ESO) with conductor Scott Stewart and guest sitarist Stephen Slawek gave a free performance of "The Ravi Shankar Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra" to a capacity crowd of more than 800. The concerto, written in 1971 and first performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, remains a favorite of leading orchestras today. Special guest Stephen Slawek studied sitar in 1969 with the late Lalmani Misra and in 1977 with Ravi Shankar. He trained in the advanced techniques and the repertoire of the Maihar Gharana of Baba Allauddin Khan under Shankar.
The Department of Music of Emory College offers students opportunities to study Indian classical music through a major, minor, coursework, performance lessons, lectures, and concert series. Emory's final Indian classical music concert of the season is a sitar concert by faculty artist affiliate Kakali Banyopadhyay. The free event (open to the public) is Saturday, January 24, 2004 at 8 p.m. in the Schwartz Center's Emerson Concert Hall.
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