The Learnquest Music Conference 2006

The Learnquest Music Conference 2006 took place in Weston, Mass. on Apr 15-16. It was organised by the Learnquest academy of music.

I'll spare you all the ooohs and aaahs and the panegyrics -- suffice to say it was a rare event that spanned 2 days and showcased some peerless musical talent.

Day 1:

1. Ustad Ali Ahmed Hossain Khan: Shehnai. He was accompanied by his son, also on shehnai and by Subhen Chatterjee on tabla. The reed players did a fine job and Shubhen was very quick and able on the tabla.

2. A fine musical ensemble comprising local "world musician" Marc Rossi on keyboards, with his group and Durga Krishnan on veena, U. Mahalingam on mridangam and Gowri Shankar on kanjira. There was a very inspiring piece which saw fine counterpointing between the various musicians.

3. Flute: Rakesh Chaurasia, nephew of Hariprasad accompanied by Vijay Ghate on tabla and Abhijit Pohankar on keyboards...Chaurasia played Raga Vachaspati...fine, fine performance by chotte nawaab...

4. Vocal: Rahul Deshpande accompanied by Nikhil Phatak on tabla and Rajiv Paranjpe on harmonium. Rahul has a good voice tho' many people commented it is not "pukka" enough yet..still, he was wildly cheered as he sang some "natyasangeet"...

5. Tabla solo: Nayan Ghosh on tabla accompanied by Rajiv Paranjape on harmonium. A creditable performance.

6. Violin: Sisirkona dhar Chowdhury accompanied by Nayan Ghosh on tabla. Unfortunately I missed this one...

7. Sitar: Ustad Imrat Khan on sitar, Vijay Ghate on tabla. Great performance.

Day 2:

1. Vocal: The Gundecha Brothers... aaah...absolutely stirring dhrupad...it was a treat to watch/hear them sing and modulate their voices...very strong and pure rendition...had the audience on their feet...

2. Flute: V.K.Raman. Raman plays very melodious Carnatic style flute...much appreciated...great tabla acocmpaniment by Nitin Mitta..also solo sitar by Nayan Ghosh and then jugalbandi between Ghosh and Raman...

3. Vocal: Suhas Vyas, son of Pt. CR Vyas...another solid performance

4. Sarangi: Ramesh Mishra. Mishra exercised great control over the sarangi and he played with great skill. Sameer Chatterjee on tabla.

5. Sarod: Ashish Khan, of the Maihar gharana...he was unwell, still a rousing performance...

6. Vocal: Ashwini Bhide. A very powerful voice, great control...the audience loved it...

All in all a treat for classical music lovers...

Artist Profiles.