Sama Arts Network is one of the UK’s oldest and most influential arts organisations in the genre of traditional and contemporary South Asian arts. It also presents Orchestral, Jazz and World Music.
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What’s On
Songs of the Mystics / Shared Values Festival / The Indus Festival
The family of Qawwal Najmuddin Saifuddin group trace their ancestry back to the 13th-century and are considered today the leading singers of the Sufi Qawwali tradition. Their songs are of thousands of years of mystic poetry, which have been passed on from generation to generation. The songs, which constitute the qawwali repertoire, are in a number of languages. Those from the classical period are in dialects of north India like Brajbhasha and Awadhi. These dialects continue to have huge influence on qawwali in other languages. There is a rich tradition in other languages like Urdu, Punjabi, Persian and Saraiki.
UK Tour
| 5 Mar | Holywell Music Room, Oxford | 0730 605 6305 | Book Now |
| 15 Mar | Storey’s Field Centre, Cambridge | 01223 357851 | Book Now |
| 16 Mar | Dominion Centre, Southall | 0730 605 6305 | Book Now |
| 22 Mar | Tara Arts Theatre, London | 0208 8333 4457 | Book Now |
| 23 Mar | Woodside Hall, Glasgow | 0778 693 5075 | Book Now |
| 24 Mar | Excelsior, Nottingham | 0115 7100 300 | |
| 29 Mar | Midland Art Centre, Birmingham | 0121 446 3232 | Book Now |
| 30 Mar | Key Theatre, Peterborough | 01733 207239 | Book Now |
| 31 Mar | The Curve, Slough | 0730 605 6305 | Book Now |
| 5 Apr | Great Hall, Dartington | 01803 847 070 | |
| 6 Apr | Porchester Hall, London | 0730 605 6305 | Book Now |
| 7 Apr | Newhampton Art Centre, Wolverhampton | 01902 572090 | Book Online |
| 10 Apr | Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester | 0161 907 5555 | Book Now |
Shared Values is a festival of South Asian art music, contemporary, classical & traditional that seeks to showcase the achievements of non-South Asian musicians who have wholeheartedly adopted the aesthetic values of this music and emerged as accomplished performers. We believe that the breadth and depth of these artists’ with their adoptive musical culture can only be put in perspective when they are given an opportunity to share a platform with leading indigenous performers. This is a festival to project that South Asian music is universal, welcoming and inclusive. (click on the artist list to book online, click on venue for directions).
What Was On
The Indus Festival, is a series of performances in celebration of the classical and contemporary arts of South Asia. We are presenting a number of artists in collaboration with organisations from the East region. This will be the basis for all future work of Indus Music. We propose to celebrate The Beatles’ trip to India which transformed the perception of Indian music in the West. Their historic meeting with Pandit Ravi Shankar remains to this day the key moment in the history of this music in the West.
The festival will include music – all genres, Khyal, Qawwali, Ghazals, Dance, Book Reading, Poetry.
2018
| 20 Sep / 6:30pm | Concert | Shika Ganguli — Hanif Khan - Tabla / Nafiz Irfan - Harmonium |
Nehru Centre |
| 26 Sep / 6:30pm | Concert | Rahul Mishra — Dheeraj Mishra - Tabla / Nafiz Irfan - Harmonium |
Nehru Centre |
| 25 Nov / 3pm | Concert | Shafqat Ali Khan — Shahbaz Hussain - Tabla / Gurbaksh Singh - Dilruba |
Royal Asiatic Society |
| 26 Nov / 6:30pm | Concert | Chandrima Mishra — Shahbaz Hussain - Tabla / Prabhat Rao - Harmonium |
Nehru Centre |
| 27 Nov / 6:30pm | Concert | Kaviraj Singh — Amritpal Singh - Tabla / Gurbaksh Singh - Dilruba |
Nehru Centre |
| 4 Dec Inauguration / 6pm 5-13 Dec / 10am-6pm / Mon to Fri only |
Exhibition | Khyal: Music and Imagination - Multimedia Exhibition — Led by Martin Clayton and Laura Leante at Durham University, in collaboration with GemArts, and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. |
Nehru Centre |
| 4 Dec / 6:30pm | Concert | Khyal: Music & Imagination Exhibition Inauguration Vijay Rajput — Sanju Sahai - Tabla / Kirpal Singh Panesar - Dilruba |
Nehru Centre |
| 5 Dec / 4pm | Workshop | Vijay Rajput — Khyal Workshop |
Nehru Centre |
| 6 Dec / 6:30pm | Concert | Ustad Fida Husain – Felicitation Event Deepa Karnad — Budhaditya Bhattacharya — Gurdain Rayatt - Tabla / Gurbaksh Singh Matharu - Dilruba |
Nehru Centre |
| 8 Dec / 6pm | Concert | Sanjukta Mitra — Udit Pankhania - Tabla Prabhat Rao — Amritpal Singh - Tabla / Rishikesh Kardile - Harmonium |
Bhavan Centre |
| 9 Dec / 1pm | Concert | Roshan Abbas — Guest musicians |
Dominion Centre |
| 10 Dec / 4pm | Workshop | Sarojini Pati — Khyal Workshop |
Nehru Centre |
| 11 Dec / 6:30pm | Concert | Kaleem Sheikh — A talk on Khyal / Music — CANCELLED Tarsem Singh - Tabla / Surjeet Singh - Sarangi |
Nehru Centre |
| 12 Dec / 4pm | Film Screening | Screening 1 — Kishori Amonikar - Live in Concert |
Nehru Centre |
| 13 Dec / 4pm | Film Screening | Screening 2 — Pandit Bhimsen Joshi - Live in Concert |
Nehru Centre |
| 14 Dec / 7:30pm | Concert | Rahul Mishra — Dheeraj Mishra - Tabla |
Tara Arts |
| 16 Dec / 2pm | Seminar | Khyal Seminar — Comprehensive discussion on Khyal and gharanas (schools) |
Rich Mix |
| 16 Dec / 6:30pm | Concert | Chiranjeeb Chakraborty — Amruta Bawane Garud — Manjeet Singh Rasiya - Tabla / guest musicians |
Rich Mix |
| 24 May / 6:30pm / £ Free | Concert | Shephali Frost — Sufi Songs from 16 - 21st Century / Prelude event - Women in the Arts Festival |
Nehru Centre |
| 12 June / 6:30pm / £ Free | Concert | Chinmayi Tripathi: Poetry Project — Songs of Hindi Poets (Neo Romanticist Poetry) |
Nehru Centre |
| 12—17 June / 11am-7pm / £ Free | Exhibition | Madhubani Painting Exhibtion — Seema Singh |
M.P. Birla Gallery, Bhavan Centre |
| 16—17 June / 10am / £27.54 | Workshop | Madhubani Painting Workshop Seema Singh |
M.P. Birla Gallery, Bhavan Centre |
| Saturday 16 June / 8pm / £12-15 | Concert | Mystic Songs & Sufi Qawwali — Abi Sampa with support from Chinmayi Tripathi |
Rich Mix |
| 18 June—11 July / 11am to 7pm / £ Free | Exhibition | Women in Khyal Music - Music and Imagination — A multimedia exhibition |
M.P. Birla Gallery, Bhavan Centre |
| 19 June / 6:30pm / £ Free | Talk/Concert | A Talk by Dr Laura Leante - Khyal Exhibition — Khyal Music — Dr Milind Malshe |
Nehru Centre |
| 20 June / 6:30pm / £ Free | Talk/Book Launch | A Talk by Dr Laura Leante — Khyal Music & Visual Art Book Launch — Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta launched a fictitious musical story on Khyal between a 15th Century blind poet saint and Mughal Emperor Akbar. |
M.P. Birla Gallery, Bhavan Centre |
| 19—23 June/ 10am to 6pm / £ Free | Exhibition | Songs of Spring — Sara Riaz Khan•Vinita Khanna•Sudipta Modi |
Asia House |
| 24 June—13 July / 11am to 7pm / £ Free | Exhibition | Songs of Spring — Sara Riaz Khan • Vinita Khanna • Sudipta Modi Transferred from Asia House |
M.P. Birla Gallery, Bhavan Centre |
| 26 June / 7pm / £7.50 | Talk | Talk on Music of the Agra Gharana — Priya Purshothaman |
M.P. Birla Gallery, Bhavan Centre |
| 29 June / 7pm / £15 | Concert | Priya Purshothaman — Khyal Vocal With Amritpal Singh—Tabla |
M.P. Birla Gallery, Bhavan Centre |
| 6 July / 7.30pm / £ Free | Concert | Deepa Hattangady Karnad — Khyal Music |
M.P. Birla Gallery, Bhavan Centre |
| 8 July / 6:30pm / £10 | Dance Recital | Indrani Datta — Kathak Katrina Rute — Bharatanatym Pallavi Anand — Odissi |
Bhavan Centre |
| 10 July—13 July / 11am to 7pm / £ Free | Exhibition | Exhibition of the Baul Tradition — Papia Das Baul |
M.P. Birla Gallery, Bhavan Centre |
| 12 July / 6:30pm/ £ Free | Concert | Sanjukta Mitra — Khyal Vocal |
Nehru Centre |
| 13 July / 6:30pm/ £ Free | Concert | Yan White — Flute recital - Khyal Exhibition |
M.P. Birla Gallery, Bhavan Centre |
| 19 July / 6:30pm / £ Free | Concert | Sunita Avani Amin — Dhrupad Vocals |
Nehru Centre |
| 21 July / 7:30pm / £15 | Concert | Amrit Kaur Lohia — Sarangi/Voice KauRAS/ Deepa Nair Rasiya — Songs of Sufi / Sikh Tradition |
Watermans Art Centre |
| 22 July / 3pm / £15 | Concert | Sangeeta Datta — Tagore & Baul Papia Das Baul — Baul Songs |
Watermans Art Centre |
| 22 July / 7pm / £15 | Concert | Shepali Frost – Sufi Mystics / Contemporary Poets Vandana Somai – Bhakti Poet |
Watermans Art Centre |
| 28 July / 7:30pm / £13 | Comedy | Sindhu Vee: Sandhog — A night of comedy with Sindhu Vee |
Tara Arts Theatre |
| 3 August / 6:30pm / £ Free | Concert | Urmi Chakraborty — Semi Classical /Hindustani Vocals |
Nehru Centre |
| 13 August / 2:30pm / £10 | Conference | Women in the Arts Conference — Keynote Speech / Panel discussions / Business of Music Music Publishing / Talent Development & Artist Management Finance & Fundraising |
Wilton's Music Hall |
| 13 August / 7:45pm / £17.50 | Concert | Nicki Wells —Turya | Wilton's Music Hall |
| 14 August / 7:45pm / £17.50 | Concert | Zoe Rahman —Jazz / Contemporary | Wilton's Music Hall |
| 15 August / 7:45pm / £17.50 | Concert | Patricia Rozario —Soprano/ Western Classical ::Naresh Sohal / John Taverner / Vijay Anand | Wilton's Music Hall |
| 16 August / 7:45pm / £17.50 | Concert | Calcutta —English Baroque meets Indian Music | Wilton's Music Hall |
Present by Tara Arts with Sama Arts
| 6 April / 7:30pm | Concert | In Praise of Khusrau: Sitar & Mystic Sufi Songs Roopa Panesar and Abi Sampa |
Tara Arts Theatre |
| 7 April / 2pm | Concert | Agra Ragas Deepa Hattangady Karnad |
Tara Arts Theatre |
| 7 April / 4pm | Concert |
Konnakol (Indian scat) & Carnatic Vocal / Songs of the Tanjore Quartet Konnakol and Vamshikrishna Vishnudas |
Tara Arts Theatre |
| 7 April / 7:30pm | Concert | Songs of Love and SeparationAmrit Kaur Lohia and Mehtab Malhotra |
Tara Arts Theatre |
| 8 April / 2pm | Concert | Rhythms in the LandscapeTaal Vadya Kacheri and Kirpal Panesar |
Tara Arts Theatre |
| 8 April / 4pm | Concert | Voice of the Kirana SchoolVijay Rajput |
Tara Arts Theatre |
| 8 April / 7:30pm | Concert | Ancestral VoicesArnab Chakrabarty, Yogesh Samsi & Gundecha Brothers |
Tara Arts Theatre |
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