Awaaz: Sounds from South Asia

Trinity Laban students perform an evening of music reflecting the rich diversity of Indian classical and contemporary performance, featuring Bombay Theme and Raga Dance by our Honorary President A.R. Rahman and Awaaz by Soumik Datta.

Samyuktha Rajagopal solo violin
Nic Pendlebury conductor
Trinity Laban Strings

St Thyagaraja: Manaviyalakinchara
Shruthi Rajasekar: Son of Pandu
Patnam Subramanya Iyer: Raghuvamsa (arr. V. S. Narasimhan/S. Rajagopal)
St Thyagaraja: Mokshamu (arr. V. S. Narasimhan/S. Rajagopal)
V. Srinivasa Iyengar: Raasa Leela (arr. V. S. Narasimhan/S. Rajagopal)
A.R. Rahman: Bombay Theme
A.R. Rahman: Raga’s Dance (arr. Anna Conroy)

– interval –

Debipriya Das sitar
Gurdain Rayatt tabla
Prathap Ramachandra mrindingam
Sarah Latto director
Trinity Laban Chamber Choir

Shruthi Rajasekar: Who Has Seen the Wind?
Pedro de Cristo: Lachrimans sitivit anima mea
Soumik Datta: Awaaz

Soumik Datta is ‘one of the biggest new music talents in Britain’ (Vogue), the winner of the 2022 Aga Khan Music Award and a Trinity Laban alum and Honorary Fellow. He is a visionary musician with the ability to cross boundaries, cultures and art forms. A sarod virtuoso, bandleader, TV presenter and Artistic Director of the Soumik Datta Arts charity, his work embraces traditional and contemporary art forms to address the urgent issues of our times.

Awaaz was written for chamber choir, sarod and Indian percussion and in Datta’s words ‘explores the event, known as Partition, through the lens of the human voice. What if language was shattered into fragmented syllables? What if words and phrases were torn up like the lands of India and Pakistan? Could a libretto be made up of shards of words from Hindi, Urdu and Bengali? Stripped of meaning and identity, what emotion would this debris of sound carry?’

Premiered at the Barbican in 2022 with the composer as soloist, the work will feature sitar as the solo instrument, played by guest artist Debipriya Das, with Gurdain Rayatt and Prathap Ramachandra on Indian percussion.

Great Hall, Blackheath Halls

£15/£10