Over the last few decades in Australia, we’ve had an upsurge in popularity of classical Indian music and have been fortunate to attract some of the very best musical masters of the previous generation, including Ravi Shankar, Zakir Hussain and Shivkumar Sharma, who sadly have all recently passed away. Fortunately, there is a new generation of exceptionally gifted proteges who carry on the living musical legacies of their great predecessors.
Vinay Desai is one such musician, a young master of the santoor, mentored and guided by Shivkumar Sharma. Vinay began his santoor training while just a teenager, receiving direct instruction and supervision with his teacher. Not long before his passing Shivkumar said to Vinay “Just play my music” and the younger virtuoso has dedicated himself to fulfilling his teacher’s wishes.
We know Vinay well. He is our son in law and travels to Australia with our daughter Shanti and granddaughter Lalita. He brings into our lives the most sublime music and beautiful time with our family.
For Vinay, the music of Shivkumar and the santoor is a sadhana, a way of living with purpose, beauty and connection with the one creative force within us all. When you hear him play, the feeling of upliftment and love of life wells up spontaneously, bringing us closer to the Divine which is the intent of the endeavour and offering of the artist. In Vinay’s musical and artistic tradition the relationship with the listener and musician is what evokes the sublime outpouring. To be an integral part of this shared Creative Moment is an almost unsurpassed experience.
You are warmly invited to partake of what unfolds when we are surrounded by such skillful and beautiful musicality that the artists evoke for us. Such moments are to be savored and continue to resonate within us long after the last note merges into profound silence.
This February 2025 tour of Australia will be Vinay’s third time here sharing his exquisite musicality and passion for the santoor. He is accompanied by Jay Dabgar, an accomplished tabla player from Gujarat India now based in Australia. They will be performing together around Australia in Adelaide, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and northern New South Wales.
Vinay plays to sold out concerts internationally but for him it is not the audience size that matters but the mutual receptivity. Musicians such as Vinay dedicate incredible time, focus and effort in perfecting their spiritual art form. We ourselves have witnessed his extraordinary commitment to practice and refining his ability. The result of his dedication, as well his respect for the musical legacy of his exceptional teacher is warmly and gratefully received by audiences around the world.
See the tour schedule below and be sure to register for an exceptional musical experience.
These are evocative and transporting spiritual art forms that uplift and heal the human spirit and refine the human vibration.
The sounds are heard in a creative and spiritually aligned and absorbed state, a gift from the subtler dimensions of the spheres and then expressed through voice and instrument.
A raga is a melodic framework for improvisation and composition in Indian classical music. It's a collection of pitches or notes with specific rules and rhythms for using them. Ragas are central to Indian music and are considered by South Asian musicians to be the most important concept in music making.
Some characteristics of ragas:
Each raga has a unique sound, like a colour with a unique hue which connect with specific essential and pure feelings. Each raga is appropriate for certain times of the day and seasons times and can be related to specific Hindu deities.
Ragas have a specific melody with an immense scope for improvisation as the musicians generate a musical conversation, with prescribed ways of ascending and descending the scale, and specific melodic phrases.
Musicians create a mood or atmosphere (rasa) that is unique to the raga by using only the notes, emphasizing certain degrees of the scale, and going from note to note in characteristic ways.
Ragas are classified in different ways in northern and southern India. In northern India, ragas are classified by mood, season, and time. In southern India, ragas are grouped by the technical traits of their scales.
The word raga is a Sanskrit word that literally means "colour" or "passion".
The path of learning and performance for the Classical Indian Musician is a dedicated sadhana or path under the guidance of a teacher or lineage. It is like a path of yoga sadhana.
Ragas have a very intended spiritual effect that can be incredibly profound for the listener and the musician.
Australian tour dates
1st February - Strathalbyn SA
8th February - Albert Park, Melbourne VIC
14th February - Myocum NSW
16th February - Currumbin Valley QLD
21st February - Goodwood, Adelaide SA
22nd February - Barossa SA
23rd February - Magill, Adelaide SA