Renowned classical Indian musicians coming to Mechanics Hall for benefit concert

WORCESTER — A number of different elements will be working in harmony together at the Classical Musical Melody of India concert at 7 p.m. June 3 in Mechanics Hall.

The concert is a fundraiser for Joy Guru Humanitarian Services Inc. of Worcester, a nonprofit organization that is "a partner of the city" through offering multiple programs and services, said co-founder and President Dr. Satya Mitra.

Meanwhile, the music "is just going to be electric that evening," Mitra said.

Mitra, who was born and grew up in India, is bringing top Indian classical musicians to Mechanics Hall for the concert. The musicians, in turn, are on a short U.S. tour, "Raag Raagini: The Promise of Love," named after a recently released album featuring acclaimed North Indian sitar player Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan and South Indian violinist and vocalist Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi.

The "Raag Raagini: The Promise of Love" album features Khan and Vijayalakshmi playing new compositions together derived from Indian classical music on the theme of love. Khan is a seventh-generation sitar player, while Vijayalakshmi is a fifth-generation player of the Lalgudi bani musical style founded by Shri Lalgudi Jayaraman.

Joining them on the Mechanics Hall stage will be Anubrata Chatterjee, a globally renowned expert on the percussive tabla; Patri Satish Kumar, a maestro of another percussive instrument, the mridangam; and Raman Kalyan, recognized as a master of the bamboo flute. Students from the Natyamani School of Dance of Westborough will also perform.

Mitra said that free admission is being offered to all Worcester-area music school students "so that they can get inspired watching the way each musician performs and also experience the rich heritage of Indian classical music."

Khan, in a telephone interview from the Shahid Parvez Khan Academy (or SPK Academy of Music) in Phoenix, said the music students at the June 3 concert are "going to benefit a lot by this music. They are going to get inspired into the music."

This won't be Khan's first visit to Mechanics Hall. He performed there at a benefit for Joy Guru Humanitarian Services Inc. in 2018 in a concert titled "The Essence: Where East Meets West," which included Khan and other prominent classical musicians from India and the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra.

All-classical theme

This time, rather than an "East Meets West" musical theme, Mitra went for all an all-classical Indian music concert, he said.

Khan said he was impressed by Joy Guru Humanitarian Services and what it has done for the community when he first came here and "this time also I'm very impressed."

Asked what the musicians will be performing June 3, Khan said, "In our music we don't decide before the concert."

They will be "all classical pieces," or as is the case with "Raag Raagini: The Promise of Love," classical-derived pieces.

"Raag Raagini: The Promise of Love" has been described as "inspired by the dynamic energy created in the spontaneous musical interaction between the masculine and feminine."  There are three tracks on the album: "Umeed (Hope)," "Khayyish (Desire or Want)" and "Vada/Wada (Promise)."  The performance pieces "reimagine the playful banter between two loves signifying the blooming of a new beginning, building into the frenetic electricity of an unknown desire."

Seema Gulati, a sitar player and director of the SPK Academy of Music, said it was also significant to have musicians from north and south India fusing the music together.

Mitra said the differences between north and south India can include language, social environment and "people eat different kind of food." However, "they all love education, they all love families," he said. "The difference is in the culture but the commonality is they're all music lovers."

Khan spends half of each year in Arizona and the other half in India.

The sitar is a complex, multistringed instrument, and Khan said he still practices every day. "But the practice is different from what it used to be from the early age."

His style emphasizes the unique capabilities of the sitar, introducing highly energized and rhythmically innovative instrumental play - known as “tantrakari.” He has also mastered “gayaki ang,” a style that transfers the emotional directness and tonal nuance of the human voice to his instrument. A combination of energetic play and sensual emotion results in interplay that has led to his instrument being known as the “Singing Sitar.”

Khan said his father Ustad Aziz Khanr, a sixth-generation sitar player, gave him his first instrument when he was 4, and he's been playing about 59 years.

"My father gave me a small sitar. I was very happy to have that instrument. When my training started it was very hard for me, but this is the thing I want to do in my life."

'Music became my life'

Khan said he "never" thought of giving up. It took hard work and dedication, but he diligently practiced sitar because "it became my life. So I say music became my life."

He is playing music "the way I want to do it. I can say I'm on the right track because there is no target, only journey ... I'm doing what I wanted and I'm getting my energy from my music."

As for how popular classical Indian music is in India, Khan said, "There are so many different kinds of music." Bollywood music is very popular, he acknowledged.

Still, Gulati said that Khan's concerts can draw audiences of 5,000 to 6,000 people at venues in India.

Indeed, classical Indian music "is more popular than it used to be," Khan said.

Khan is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Government of India's Padma Shri and the Sangeet Natak Academy Award.

Stateside the "Raag Raagini" tour has included stops in Phoenix; San Francisco; Albany, New York; and Raleigh, North Carolina. After Worcester, the tour concludes in New Orleans.

The SPK Academy of Music has online students from all over the country, Gulati said. "The academy's flourishing and doing very well," she said.

Mitra and his wife, Sheema, co-founded Joy Guru Humanitarian Services in 2016 as a nonprofit foundationto help needy and underprivileged people in the community and beyond.

When the senior-only Elm Park Tower apartments run by the Worcester Housing Authority flooded because of burst pipes in February forcing the relocation of all tenants for several weeks, Joy Guru provided residents with $24,000 in gift cards, Mitra said. "We're always there for the city."

Mitra has said he came to the U.S. from India in 1976 when he was 25 with only $6 in his pocket. After pursuing biomedical research he switched to finance, establishing The Guru Tax and Financial Services Inc. in Worcester.

"My wife and I like to help Worcester because Worcester has given so much to us," Mitra said.

Joy Guru's programs include services for the blind (Mitra's father became totally blind when he was 62); providing clothing, books and scholarship assistance to inner-city children; and food/feeding assistance for the poor, among other activities. Joy Guru has also been to Kenya and provided eye services. For more information, visit JoyGuru.org.

A family affair

"Classical Musical Melody of India" will be a true family affair as Mitra's sons, Abiskar and Alingon Mitra, will serve as the concert's masters of ceremonies. Abiskar Mitra is vice president of business affairs for Major League Soccer in New York, and Alingon Mitra is a professional stand-up comedian in New York.

Worcester Mayor Joseph M. Petty is also scheduled to speak at the concert.

But while the concert is a fundraiser, Mitra said he wants everyone to have "the opportunity to see the face of classical Indian music."

People wanting to attend who can't afford the ticket should contact 508-641-8441, he said.

"The show is presented to offer an opportunity to all our community people to enjoy a melodious evening and treasure the intricacies and art behind the performance of each musician and feel the grace of Indian classical music. They will create an ensemble that will generate an unforgettable musical evening for all listeners," Mitra said

What: "Classical Musical Melody of India"

When: 7 p.m. June 3

Where: Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St., Worcester

How much: $35, $50, $100. www.mechanicshall.org

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Renowned classical Indian musicians at Mechanics Hall for benefit show