Dance music enthusiasts rejoice! Nikhil Chinapa and Rohit Barker are all set to bring to you an experience of a lifetime with the best acts across a spectrum of dance music genres this weekend.

Starting today, over the next two days, the grounds of Jayamahal Palace will host a festival this city can call its own — Cirkus Indigo. With one massive stage, 18 DJs and visuals by VJ KayCee, the first edition of Cirkus Indigo is set to pay homage to a city that’s been the cradle of dance music in India. The festival, though, is not just about music. Guests can check out the wares at the flea market, grab a bite at the food court, or just spend time in the chill-out zone. And if a party is on your mind, hang around as the Cirkus moves to the hanger from 10 pm tonight.There’s a Cirkus-style Sunday brunch for early risers on Sunday morning.

Cirkus Indigo is on March 1 and 2 from 12 pm to 10 pm (with a party thereafter on March 1) at Jayamahal Palace. For more information, log on to www.cirkusindigo.com

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Entertainment> Kannada> Music / TNN / March 01st, 2014

She not only has a collection of hundreds of musical instruments from across the world, but has learnt to play all of them too.

Dr Anasuya Kulkarni was learning Hindustani music from her ustaad in Kabul in 1965, when he invited her home to sing in front of his family and guests. Pleased, he decided to give her a token of appreciation, his swaramandalam. That was the start of what is today a diverse collection of musical instruments. “I haven’t counted,” she says, “but there are at least 200-300 instruments. I have categorised them into separate genres of wind, string, bow, plucked, idiophones and percussion instruments.”
The second instrument in her collection also came from Kabul of the ’60s. After a snowstorm, Kulkarni was basking in the sunlight outside her home when she heard music from the neighbour’s house. It was a rubab, a lute-like instrument. She bought one in the local market.

Collecting a variety of instruments became easier after her husband, who was working for the United Nations, was posted to different countries across the world. There are also different varieties of the same instrument, like flutes, of which she has more than a dozen, each distinct. The flutes from Papua New Guinea, for instance, have religious connotations.

The collection also hosts an instrument called the angklung — a series of bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. When Kulkarni first heard it in Jakarta, Indonesia, in the late ’70s, she was bowled over by the intricate sound. “I first bought an 8 note angklung and kept meddling with it to try and play Indian music on it.”

Customising the stand proved to be the key, after which she was successful in creating the right notes of Indian music. She demonstrates Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma on a 13-piece angklung and soon, the perfect notes of the classic song chime melodiously.

Kulkarni has made it a point to learn to play all the instruments, receiving specific training from experts. For instance, she learnt to play the flutes of Papua New Guinea from a local musician. The only self-taught instrument is the angklung, says this doctorate in music. She now hopes to propagate its use in Indian music.

Next on the agenda is to train students who wish to learn any instrument, through the institute.

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Work  / by Jayanthi Madhukar  , Bangalore Mirror Bureau  / March 15th, 2014

The first registered institute for ethnomusicology in the State will be inaugurated here on November 21 at 6 p.m. at the Indian Institute of World Culture, Basavanagudi.

Founder managing trustee of the Institute of Ethnomusick and angklung artiste Anusuya Kulkarni says, “Our goal is to spread awareness on this branch of music study among Indians, particularly the younger generation.”

Cultural interactions would be a lot more meaningful with the familiarity and comprehension of music, and knowledge of its cultural and ethnic background.

Non-Western

Ethnomusicology, a branch of musicology, is a discipline that is said to have developed after World War II in Western countries because some experts were passionate about studying non-Western styles passed on from generations, especially among the tribal communities. Talking of her own experience with the angklung, Ms. Kulkarni, who has made it to the Limca Book of Records for playing Carnatic style on the rare musical instrument, says she is really happy to know that the Jaganmohan Palace museum has the instrument in its collection, and that it was being used by the police band.

Although she is familiar with the bamboo version of it, which is played in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, the palace, she came to know, had imported the metal angklung with a bamboo resonator, from England, nearly 135 years ago.

Details

She says talks and discussions would be a regular feature at her institute. Those interested in sharing knowledge can call 080 26586826 or 93419-64662. The institute will be inaugurated by vocalist Suguna Purushottam.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> TamilNadu / by Ranjani Govind / Bangalore – November 19th, 2010