Mehfil is a Persian word meaning an intimate gathering of musicians, poets and dancers, traditionally in the presence of a ruler, and nowadays in the presence of a small group of music-lovers.
Returning for its fourth year is the Auckland Mehfil that will be showcasing world music at Blockhouse Bay Boat Club on February 18. The 14th edition of the show in four years will feature several acts from varied musical traditions.
The show will open with Tabla Beat Science—a quartet of leading tabla students from the Sargam School of Indian music in Auckland. The second act will be a duet between two international artists. Shastro, a multi-instrumentalist from Italy, will the play the bamboo flute, while UK-born Chinmaya Dunster will play the sarod and guitar. Both artists have released 30 CDs in the past 25 years.
Chinmaya has a passion for the production of music and he also creates awareness-raising films on environmental and social issues in India. He toured India and New Zealand with his Green Ragas Band. Shastro with his music brings forth within the heart of each listener a magical journey that unfolds through vast soundscapes coloured by the sweet call of the bansuri or flute.
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The Tabla Beat Science group represents Indian classical, world fusion, and folk music beats. The group gave successful performances in 2016 during the Auckland Diwali Festival, Sur-Taal (which featured Sarangi Maestro Sangeet Mishra), and The Music Extravaganza in Auckland. The beauty of the group’s performances lies in their intricate classical beats, thrilling fusion rhythms, and traditional folk taals.
The Sargam Fusion group was founded in 2015 and their compositions blend Indian, Eastern, and Western music, thereby reaching out and connecting different cultures. Sargam Fusion is the most renowned Indian classical music group in Auckland and has performed in various shows and events across the country. The band aims to connect people from different cultures and truly live the spirit of diversity and multiculturalism.
Some of the classic blends that the band has composed so far include sufi with opera, traditional Indian folk with Arabic, and South Indian classical with Maori.
“We at Sargam Fusion believe that Indian classical music is extremely powerful yet malleable and can easily amalgamate with different genres and styles of music with absolute ease,” Basant Madhur, one of the founders of Sargam School said.
The jugalbandi starts at 7 p.m. at Blockhouse Bay Boat Club, 91 Endeavour Street, on Saturday, February 18.
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