Indian concert featuring dance and music this Saturday in Staunton
STAUNTON — An evening of classical Indian dance and music is coming this Sat., May 20, at the Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Staunton.
The free concert will feature Pandit Divyang Vakil, a spiritual guru, along with Jin Won, Mike Lukshis and Loren Oppenheimer. Vakil will give a brief talk about Indian classical performing arts before a kathak dance performance by Won, and then tabla (drum) solos by Lukshis and Oppenheimer.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Lukshis said Vakil will speak about Indian music and spirituality. "Because that's one of his primary areas of study and expertise," he said.
Vakil heads the Taalim School of Indian Music in Edison, New Jersey. The school focuses on South Asian performing arts and education, according to its website, and specializes in both tabla percussion and kathak dancing.
"We're one of the primary organizations for Indian performing arts in the northeast," Lukshis said.
He said the area of Edison has one of the highest concentrations of Indians in the United States. Lukshis, Won and Vakil live together in what Lukshis described as a community based around music. "We run classes from our house in addition to many other locations. We do a lot of practices and host different musicians," he said. "It's kind of like a hub for the Indian performing arts in New Jersey." Lukshis said he, Won and Oppenheimer, who he said lives in Virginia, are considered senior students of Vakil.
Saturday's concert will begin at 5 p.m. and end at 7 p.m. It is being held at the Trinity Episcopal Church, located at 214 West Beverley St. in Staunton.
Admission is free and open to the pubic.
Brad Zinn is a reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Indian concert featuring dance and music this Saturday in Staunton
