FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Press Contacts: February 25, 2016 Eileen Chambers/CSO 312.294.3092 Mary Jane Maharry/Brava PR 773.490.6046 Photos Available By Request [email protected]
GRAMMY® AWARD-WINNING TABLA VIRTUOSO ZAKIR HUSSAIN PERFORMS WITH THE MASTERS OF PERCUSSION AT SYMPHONY CENTER
Sunday, March 20, at 3:00 p.m.
CHICAGO—Symphony Center Presents (SCP) hosts world-renowned classical tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain and the Masters of Percussion on Sunday, March 20 at 3:00 p.m. Hussain delivers an inspiring, genre-defying performance with fellow musicians Anantha Krishnan (Mridangam), Sabir Khan (Sarangi), Navin Sharma (Dholak), Mannargudi Vasudevan (Tavil), and Seiichi Tanaka (Taiko). Since his Symphony Center debut in 2008, Hussain has returned several times, including his 2013 appearance on the Symphony Center Presents Jazz series as a special guest with the Herbie Hancock Quartet.
Widely considered one of the chief architects of the contemporary world music movement and a national treasure in his native India, Hussain has contributed to a number of unique and historic collaborations: Shakti, which he founded with extraordinary English guitarist John McLaughlin and L. Shanka; the Grammy® Award-winning Planet Drum with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead; as well as recordings and performances with artists as diverse as George Harrison, Yo- Yo Ma, Van Morrison, Mark Morris, Rennie Harris and the Kodo drummers. Hussain’s 2009 recording, The Melody of Rhythm—with trio-mates’ banjo player, Béla Fleck, and bassist, Edgar Meyer—was nominated for a GrammyⓇ in 2010.
Hussain, a dedicated disciple of his father, legendary tabla player Ustad Allarakha, crafted the Masters of Percussion tour as an outgrowth of the successful tours of the West that he made with his father, beginning in 1996. His playing is marked by uncanny intuition and masterful improvisational dexterity, founded in formidable knowledge and study.
For the 2016 Masters of Percussion program Hussain has assembled a unique collective of musicians. Anantha R. Krishnan is the grandson and disciple of mridangam (a double-ended “Carnatic” Southern Indian drum) maestro Vidwan Shri. Palghat R. Raghu. Sabir Khan is the ninth generation of his family to take up Sarangi (a stringed North Indian instrument played with
a bow), and is considered one of the beacons of the younger generation and the wonderful product of a greatly talented lineage. He is particularly well known for his exceptional technique, a unique combination of sur and laya (note and rhythm). Navin Sharma is a master of the “Dholak” (a double-ended pitched drum associated with Indian folk music). Sharma studied with Hussain’s father, Ustad Allarakha and has played with many masters across India, and in genres that include jazz, fusion, pop, rock, gazal and bhajan. Mannargudi Vasudevan is best known as “Vasu” and is widely recognized the world’s foremost performer on the Tavil, a barrel- shaped drum prominent in Carnatic music. He has performed all over the United States, Europe, and in Malaysia. Seiichi Tanaka is a master of the Japanese Taiko drum who established the San Francisco Taiko Dojo. Acting as father of the art form in America, Tanaka’s work was recognized in 2001 with a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts.
Tickets for all CSOA-presented concerts can be purchased by phone at 1-800-223-7114 or 312- 2943000; online at cso.org, or at the Symphony Center box office: 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60604.
Discounted student tickets for select concerts can be purchased, subject to availability, online in advance or at the box office on the day of the concert. For group rates, please call 312-294- 3040.
Artists, programs and prices are subject to change.
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Symphony Center Presents Sunday, March 20, 2016, 3:00 p.m. Special Concert Zakir Hussain and The Masters of Percussion Zakir Hussain, Tabla and Vocals Anantha Krishnan, Mridangam Sabir Khan, Sarangi Navin Sharma, Dholak Mannargudi Vasudevan, Tavil Seiichi Tanaka, Taiko
Tickets $25-$75 Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain is the reigning master virtuoso of the classical Indian tabla, an unrivaled performer with the greats of Indian music. Moreover, his remarkably wide musical vision has taken him and his tabla into unimagined realms of collaboration that make him one of the chief architects of the contemporary “world music” movement. Shakti, which he founded with John McLaughlin and L. Shankar, the Diga Rhythm Band and Planet Drum with Mickey Hart, and Sangam with Charles Lloyd and Eric Harland only begin to sketch his career.
A child prodigy, Hussain was touring by the age of 12-years-old. He came to the United States in 1970, performing his first US concert at the Fillmore East in New York City with Pandit Ravi Shankar, embarking on an illustrious international career.
In the past few years, his Triple Concerto for Banjo, Bass and Tabla, a piece co-composed with Edgar Meyer and Bela Fleck, was performed by them with the Nashville Symphony at the gala opening of the Schermerhorn Symphony Hall in Nashville. In January 2009, it was re-created with the Detroit Symphony, again under the baton of Leonard Slatkin. This performance and new original works composed by Hussain, Meyer and Fleck, was released as The Melody of Rhythm in 2009.
Hussain’s second concerto, Concerto for Four Soloists, a special commission for the National Symphony Orchestra, was performed at Kennedy Center in March 2011, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach. Most recently, his third concerto, Peshkar, debuted in September 2015 to rapturous acclaim in Mumbai. Performed by Hussain and the Symphony Orchestra of India at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, it was described in the Hindustan Times as “a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Simply sublime.”
He has received countless honors from sources ranging from the Indian, French, and U.S. governments to Modern Drummer, Drum!, and Downbeat Magazines and NARAS (the “Grammys”). He was the recipient of the 1999 National Heritage Fellowship, the United States' most prestigious honor for a master in the traditional arts, presented by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at the United States Senate on September 28, 1999.
In 2005, he was named an Old Dominion Fellow by the Humanities Council at Princeton University, where he resided for the 2005-2006 autumn semester as full professor in the music department, teaching a survey course in Indian classical music and dance. The following school year he taught the course again, at Stanford University. In 2007, the government of India chose him to compose an anthem to celebrate India’s 60th year of independence. The song, “Jai Hind”, has been recorded by an array of India’s finest classical vocalists and pop singers. His music and extraordinary contribution to the music world were honored in April 2009, with four widely heralded and sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall’s Artist Perspective series.
In 1992, Hussain founded Moment! Records, which features original collaborations in the field of contemporary world music and live concert performances by great masters of the classical music of India. He is currently resident artistic director at SFJAZZ.
Masters of Percussion Artist Biographies
Anantha Krishnan Anantha R. Krishnan is the grandson and disciple of mridangam (a double-ended “Carnatic” Southern Indian drum) maestro Vidwan Shri. Palghat R.Raghu. Krishnan initially learned mridangam from his uncle, Shri. R. Ramkumar. He also studies tabla with Ustad Zakir Hussain. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College and a Master of Fine Arts from Mills College, California. He currently serves on the faculty of KM Music Conservatory in Chennai.
Sabir Khan Sabir Khan is the ninth generation of his family to take up Sarangi (a stringed North Indian instrument played with a bow), and is considered one of the beacons of the younger generation and the wonderful product of a greatly talented lineage. He began to learn music at the age of six from his grandfather, Ustad Gulab Khan, who was a great sarangi player and vocalist. Soon after, Khan began to study with his father, the world-renowned sarangi player and vocalist Ustad Sultan Khan, and with his late uncle, Ustad Nasir Khan. His extraordinary technique of combining sur and laya (note and rhythm) has made him stand out. In addition to his outstanding work in classical music, he has played with both gazal masters and on many Indian films.
Navin Sharma A master of the “Dholak” (a double-ended pitched drum associated with Indian folk music), Sharma first studied with his father, Shri Shyam Rughuram Sharma. Seeking to learn more in the classical vein, he studied with Hussain’s father, Ustad Allarakha. Navin has played with many masters across India, and in genres that include jazz, fusion, pop, rock, gazal and bhajan.
Mannargudi Vasudevan Best known as “Vasu,” Mannargudi Vasudevan is the world’s premiere performer on the Tavil, a barrel- shaped drum prominent in Carnatic music. He trained at the Valivalam Music School, and his primary teacher was Kunju Singaravelu Pillai. He has performed all over the United States, Europe, and in Malaysia. He is also an Examiner at the Chennai Music College.
Seiichi Tanaka Master of the Japanese Taiko drum, he will bring to Masters of Percussion the international fusion that has been the hallmark of Zakir Hussain’s career. Tanaka trained in Japan with Daihachi Oguchi in Nagano, Susumu Kowase in Tokyo, and Shosaku Ikeda of Goinjo Daiko, and then established the San Francisco Taiko Dojo, acting as father of the art form in America. Gifted graduates of his school have spread the art of taiko across the country and beyond. In 2001 his important work was recognized by the award of a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts.
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