Pandit Nayan Ghosh & ARAJ

equinox

Twice a year, night and day are of equal length everywhere in the world, with the sun directly above the equator and the southern and northern hemispheres receiving exactly the same amount of sunlight. This astronomical phenomenon is known as the equinox. For many cultures, these are moments of particular spiritual significance. To mark the spring equinox, Klarafestival in partnership with Bozar is organising a weekend that revolves around spiritual music, with Iranian and Persian music represented as well as Christian traditions.

Pandit Nayan Ghosh & Araj

Pandit Nayan Ghosh is a phenomenon. The legendary Ravi Shankar described him as one of the best Indian musicians ever. Pandit Navan Ghosh is exceptional in that he plays both the tabla and the sitar – two very different instruments – with equally mastery. To mark the equinox together with his son Ishaan (also a skilled tabla player) and his group ARAJ, Pandit Nayan Ghosh will play a morning raga in which both the classical Indian repertoire and more modern styles of Indian music are represented.

Pandit Nayan Ghosh is known worldwide as one of India's greatest musicians. He is the only maestro with an unprecedented mastery of two totally different instruments: the sitar and the tabla. He received intensive training in tabla, sitar and singing from his father and guru, Padmabhushan Pandit Nikhil Ghosh. His sitar recitals are intensely melodious and bring out the true spirit of the raga.

ARAJ is the initiative of Ishaan Ghosh, who has brought together like-minded young musicians from the classical North Indian tradition.

Ishaan Ghosh is considered one of the greatest tabla players of his generation. He is the grandson of Padmabhushan Pandit Nikhil Ghosh, and the son and pupil of Nayan Ghosh. Ishaan played his first tabla recital at the age of two and a half. He has played with Pandit Jasraj, Amjad Ali Khan, Kaushiki Chakraborty and many other famous Indian and international musicians.

Mehtab Ali Niazi is a brilliant young sitar player. He comes from a family of traditional musicians and represents the illustrious Bhendi Bazar Gharana ('gharana' is a kind of school or style of North Indian raga music in which the musicians are linked by a teacher-student relationship). Mehtab Ali Niazi was trained by his father, Mohsin Ali Khan, who was also a sitar player.

S. Akash is one of the most interesting young flutists of India. A child prodigy, he was trained by flutists such as Venkatesh Godkhindi and Ronu Majumdar. He is currently studying with the singer Jayateerth Mevundi. Vanraj Shastri is a young sarangi maestro who has mastered the instrument to an exceptional degree. He was apprenticed to sarangi magician Pandit Dhruba Ghosh and is currently studying with Pandit Nayan Ghosh.

Shastri is appreciated for the way he has mastered an incredible musical dexterity on the instrument in a very short span of time.

Pratik Singh is a young, versatile artist who is equally gifted in vocal music and the tabla. He is one of the most promising pupils of Pandit Nayan Ghosh. He stands out for his natural control, the colorfulness of his voice and his rhythmic mastery.