PARAMPARIK

Date: Saturday, March 16, 2024, 7:30 pm
Price: $40 Balcony, $50 Orchestra
Raag-Mala Toronto Members and Friends of the Museum receive 10% off performance tickets.
A limited number of $20 tickets for full time students with valid ID are available. Please email Raag-Mala Toronto for details.
Tickets include same-day Museum admission.

The Aga Khan Museum is proud to partner with the Raag-Mala Music Society of Toronto to bring the finest musicians performing Raag Sangeet (North Indian Classical music) to Toronto audiences.

Throughout their 2024 concert season, Raag-Mala Toronto will present five carefully selected vocalists and instrumentalists who are masters of their craft. Paying homage to tradition while carrying on this ancient art form, Raag-Mala Toronto presents a masterclass in musical complexity through a series of raags — improvisations based on musical scales that serve as the lifeblood of Indian classical music and have no traditional Western equivalent.

The Museum’s Performing Arts programming is generously supported by the Nanji Family Foundation.

About the Artists

Hidayat Husain Khan

Hidayat Husain Khan is a world-renowned musician, maverick sitar player, and vocalist. He belongs to a heritage that traces back seven generations toward the most treasured lineage of Indian classical music. Khan is the son of the legendary Ustad Vilayat Khan, globally acclaimed as the greatest of all sitarists. He harbours a rare, creative brilliance that effortlessly takes him across all genres and nuances of music and can seamlessly transition from the very classical to the very colloquial genres, from playing the intricate meands (slides) of the Etawa/Vilayatkhani Gharana to performing with the Rolling Stones. Khan has performed at The Black Ball Charity in NYC with Alicia Keys and has collaborated with household musical names such as Ndugu Chancler, Ronnie Woods, Usher, Zakir Hussain, Pete Townshend, Will.I.Am, Jay Z, and Darryl Jones.

Pandit Subhen Chatterjee

Pandit Subhen Chatterjee, a prodigy of the Lucknow Gharana, honed his craft under the tutelage of tabla virtuoso Pandit Swapan Chowdhury. Throughout his illustrious career, Chatterjee has shared the stage with legendary musicians such as the late Padma Vibhushan Girija Devi and Padma Bhushan Budhaditya Mukherjee, among others, showcasing his versatility and mastery. Chatterjee pioneered the fusion band Karma, breaking barriers and blending genres to create captivating musical experiences. His contributions to the art have been recognized with numerous accolades, including the prestigious Sangeet Samaan Award, presented to him by the West Bengal State Government in 2021.

Jonathan Kay

A skilled jazz saxophonist hailing from Toronto, Canada, Jonathan Kay embarked on a unique musical journey in pursuit of non-western musical knowledge. He relocated to Kolkata and Santiniketan for a decade, immersing himself in the guru-shishya paramparic tradition under the guidance of vocalist Pandit Shantanu Bhattacharyya and esraj player Abir Singh Khangura. Kay became the pioneer in performing the full form of vocal raaga music (vilambit khayal) on the shrutiphone, a saxophone he customized to adhere to raaga temperament. Additionally, he stands out as one of the rare boro esraj players, following the tantra-kari style in the lineage of Ranadhir Roy. Fusing his experiences in jazz and raaga music,  Kay is shaping a transcultural approach to experimental improvisation with his bands Monsoon, Kayos Theory, and The Coltrane Sutras.

PARAMPARIK is presented in partnership with Raag-Mala Music Society of Toronto. 

About Raag Sangeet

Raag Sangeet is a centuries-old tradition in which knowledge is transmitted from a guru (teacher) to their disciple. An artist will typically present bandishes (compositions) learned from their guru, with improvisations dependent on the artist's creativity. An artist generally decides on bandishes and the raags (melodies) they are based on, just prior to their performance. The decision is often based on their mood and the audience's energy receptivity to their performance. Connoisseurs often recognize the raags on which these bandishes are based, whereas most listeners treat the performance as if meeting a friend — with curiosity and openness.