FMB presents, Indian Raga Seasons II: ‘DIWALI special concert with Pt. Nirmalya Dey’.
FullMoon Babylon is proud to present the second edition of ‘Indian Raga Seasons’, a concert series dedicated to promote Indian Classical Music in Rotterdam and The Netherlands.
For these series, we strive to invite in one same evening a renowned musician from India and professional musicians based in The Netherlands who are specialized in Indian classical music.
This second edition is presented during the auspicious occasion of ‘DIWALI, the festival of lights’ and one of the major festivals celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs.
Diwali symbolizes the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance".
WHAT WOULD YOU WILL LISTEN
Dhrupad is a medieval musical art form regarded as one of the major traditions of Indian culture and the core of Indian classical music, mainly practiced in Northern India. The origin of dhrupad can be traced back to the tradition of prabandha, the chanting of Sanskrit verses. This tradition evolved into the writing and composing of texts and dhrupad music. The dhrupad genre took a definite shape around five hundred years ago under the guidance of Swami Haridas (c. 1512–1575), who was a highly regarded saint-musician, poet, composer and teacher. Tansen (c. 1500–1586) and Baiju (16th century) rank among the illustrious performers and composers who had the tutelage of Swami Haridas and contributed to establish the culture of dhrupad as the most sophisticated and subtle form of classical musical rendition. This musical genre developed under royal patronage in the courts of famous kings and emperors such as Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior, Jahangir and Akbar among others. Since its inception in the 16th century, dhrupad tradition maintained uninterrupted legacy, the knowledge of this music being passed over the centuries by the masters through oral transmission. Essentially guided by the principles and practices laid down in old musical treaties, this genre is the most pristine form of Northern Indian classical music that has maintained its indigenous tradition.
ABOUT PANDIT NIRMALYA DEY
Pandit Nirmalya Dey is a renowned master vocalist and teacher in the tradition of Dagarvani dhrupad. Inspired by his mother, he started his initial dhrupad training with Prof. Nimaichand Boral, who was a disciple of Ustad Nasir Moinuddin Dagar. From 1988, Nirmalya Dey learned in the true guru-shishya tradition based on the master-disciple relationship, spending extended time with the celebrated dhrupad master, Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar. Nirmalya Dey continued to take advanced training and also regularly performed on the stage with Ustad until he passed away in 2013. While meticulously maintaining the traditional musical form and its nuances he imbibed from his teacher, who represented the 19th unbroken generation of dhrupad performing family, Nirmalya Dey also evolved his own distinctive style and approach to dhrupad.
Early in his career, Nirmalya Dey’s musical prowess was acknowledged as he won the first prize at the National Music Competition organized by the All India Radio in 1979. In recognition of his excellence and achievement in dhrupad, Nirmalya Dey was awarded the senior fellowship by the Ministry of Human Resource Department, Government of India. He was later bestowed with Top Grade by All India Radio and the national television channel (Doordarshan) for his distinctive musical accomplishment in the dhrupad tradition, and empaneled by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations as a dhrupad performer of the outstanding category. Pandit Nirmalya Dey is a distinguished artist and has been invited to perform in numerous prestigious festivals and concerts in India and abroad.
Pt. Nirmalya Dey will be accompanied by professional musicians living in The Netherlands, who are specialized in Hindustani Classical Music
Nathanaël van Zuilen:
Dutch pakhawaj player Nathanaël van Zuilen started his Indian drumming career with Manik
Munde. Later he developed his technique with Austrian pakhawaj player Helmut Waibl and Pandit Sanjay Agle in Mumbai.
But the accompaniment sessions with vocalists Ustad Fariduddin Dagar and Pandit Nirmalya Dey were perhaps most revealing in discovering the secrets of balancing tala and raga in the art of Dhrupad.
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Ilyas Nadjafi is originally from Afghanistan, he is graduated with a bachelor’s degree as a vocalist in Dhrupad, the oldest form of Northern Indian classical music from Codarts Conservatory in Rotterdam. He is currently doing his master’s degree in Khayal Genre at Codarts conservatory. He is also a very appreciated singer of Ghazal songs, Sufi songs and Qawwali.
With his interest in different religions and our present multi-cultural society, has he already
performed in a wide variety of concerts and events in the Netherlands, Germany, India, and
Surinam. He has performed as a soloist, and he is also very fond of working together with other musicians in cross-over projects and has already the privilege of performing with many bands/groups and artists, such as concerts with Breathing ensemble for tribute to Mohammad Rafi in The Netherlands as well as in Suriname, many projects with Genetic Choir such as Non Corpus Trilogie, Church songs and Stem & luister and he has performed in Ritual bells and Global gongs with Sinta Wullur and Jos van Kan on ‘Temple of time’ in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
He also has performed in the Mystic festival in Rotterdam, Nowruz festival for the Zuiderstrand theater and Sufi Centre in singing folk songs and Sufi songs like Qawwali and Ghazals.
Program:
19:15 Doors open
19:30 Short introduction by Aura Rascón
19:45 Concert starts
