More than a month to go but we are already in high spirits for this baithak: with Ashim Chowdhury we are happy to present a virtuoso musician with one of the finest tones of contemporary sitar music accompanied by the exceptional tabaliya Ashis Paul. Berlin-based musicians Beate Gatscha and Gert Anklam will open the evening and are going to have some sonic surprises in store for us!
The 23rd Baithak on 30 October 2018 in Alt-Treptow will feature sitar player K. G. Westman and tabla player Cornelius Hogeweg. In addition, a performance by Hakan Tuğrul on santur, Doron Furman on oud, and Raimund Engelhardt on tabla will be featured.
The 22nd Baithak will feature sitar player Deepsankar Bhattacharjee from Kolkata. His is one of the lesser heard styles of sitar music known as Jafferkhani baj that follows the style developed by Abdul Halim Jaffar Khan. Deepsankar will be accompanied by tabla virtuoso Abhirup Roy who represents the Benaras Gharana. The evening will be opened by a tabla solo performance by Austrian Sebastian Haidutschek who has learned under Gobinda Bose and Shyamal Chatterjee.
The 21st Baithak on 7 September 2018 in Alt-Treptow featured a collaboration between Mahmood Ramzani on setar, Alexander Konanchuk on sitar, and Raimund Engelhardt on tabla. They were followed by dhrupad singer Yvan Trunzler supported by Raimund Engelhardt on pakhavaj.
A BRT inspired concert took place on 31 August 2018 in Prenzlauer Berg and featured dhrupad singer Yvan Trunzler supported by Raimund Engelhardt on pakhavaj. Over the next two weekends two workshops were hosted by Trunzler.
The audience was treated to an elaborate Rudra Veena-Surbahar-Jugalbandi in the Raga Malkauns:
The twentieth Baithak on 6 August 2018 in Alt-Treptow will feature beenkarCarsten Wicke, surbahar player Matyas Wolter, sitar player Alexander Konanchuk and pakhavaj and tabla player Hanna Pashkevich. Here is a very rare chance to hear a jugalbandi (duett) of the instruments rudra veena and surbahar accompanied by pakhawaj.
Anna Pashkevich (Minsk, Belarus) has a bachelor's degree in performings arts (tabla) and later started learning pakhavaj playing from Mohan Shyam Sharma. Alexander Konanchuk (St. Petersburg, Russia) is co-founder and art director of the international festival "Sitar in St. Petersburg". Since 2011 Konanchuk is a disciple of Rafique Khan. Matyas Wolter learned sitar and surbahar under Subroto Roy Chowdhury in Kolkata. Wolter is member of the world-jazz-project Pulsar Trio.
