Music |
Penn's Department of South Asia Studies has offered courses in Indian classical music continuously since the 1960s. Courses were first taught by Dr. Harold Powers, Professor of Music and South Asia Studies, who specialized in Karnatak music. Funding he received in 1968 from the Ford Foundation allowed him to invite a series of visiting artists. In the 1970s, Penn was host to Dr. Lalmani Misra, Professor of Music at Banaras Hindu University, who taught classes in sitar performance. Tabla instructors in the 1970s included the Banaras artists Ishwarlal Misra and Chotelal Misra and others. Classes and performances thrived and there are many who remember the exciting environment of the 1970s.
After Dr. Misra returned to India, his student Nancy Nalbandian continued teaching the sitar class into the early 1980s. Allyn Miner has been teaching in the Department since 1983. In the mid 1990s a tabla class was reintroduced. An intermediate sitar class and additional lecture courses on South Asian music and dance were introduced in the 1990s.
At present, sitar and tabla classes and a lecture course are offered every semester. The semester-end concerts, held usually on the last Thursday of classes, attracts a lively student following.
The Department supports many Penn's South Asia student performance groups, a number of which are nationally known. Some of Penn's student groups are
Atma, Dhamaka, Pan Asian Dance Troupe, PENNaach, PenNatak, Penn Masala and Penn Sargam.
See the VPUL Office of Student Life list of Student Performing Arts groups:
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/osl/perfart.html
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The SAST Mehfil Series
Since the mid 1990s with grant support from the U.S. Department of State under Title VI the Department has sponsored regular public concerts of Indian classical music. Called the Mehfil series, these concerts are held in the warm and informal setting of the College House rooftop lounges or other small venues. Here the audience of students, university and area community sits close to the artists and experiences vocal and instrumental music in the intimate setting for which it is so suited.
The Mehfil Series has included performances by
Anuradha Pal (2007)
Uday Bhawalkar (2007)
Ayyagari Syamasundaram (2006)
Purbayan Chatterjee (2006)
Sanjoy Bandyopadhyaya (2005)
Brij Narayan (2005)
Manilal Nag (2004)
Gundecha Brothers (2004)
Ashwini Bhide (2003)
The Department continues to honor and expand its commitment to music and performance. It sees the changing practices of South Asian performing arts as vital expressions of the complex cultural story of the region and its diaspora in the contemporary world.
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Concert Organizations in the Philadelphia Area
Check the following links for listings of concerts of Indian classical music in the Philadelphia area.
If you want to be added to the SAST Mehfil Series concert list, please email:
Allyn Miner
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Announcements |
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Notes |
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Courses on Music |
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