Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan mesmerises Sydney Audience

Master of the Sarod, Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan visited Australia as part of Freedom Concert 2009 and performed in Sydney and Perth mesmerising his audiences in both shows. The show was organised by Sanjay Raina and Raj from the Core4 Entertainment. The Sydney concert was held on 15th August evening at the grand State Theatre hall. The event started with distribution of Indian flags inside the hall followed by singing of Indian National Anthem.

Amjad Ali set the mood for the evening when he played Vashnav Janato Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite bhajan and written by the Gujarati poet-saint Narsinh Mehta in the 15th century, much to the delight of the audience. He also played the Ram Dhun and often interacted with the audiences explaining small nuances about the composition and the different ways of playing Sarod.

Ustaad also played Raga Kamod, Raga Mia Ki Malhar, Raga Ganesh Kalyan, Raga Shiv Kalyan, Raga Durga, Bhatyali and Bihu during his virtuoso performance which held the audience spell bound. The climax of the show was the superb jugalbandi between Ustaad and his tabla players – Tanmoy Bose and Mithilesh who were trying in vain to play faster than the Ustaad which was loved by the audience.

At the end of the performance Ustaad received a standing ovation from the audience. The audiences also had a surprise when they were informed of the opportunity to have autographed CDs from the maestro at the end of the show. Ustaad made himself available at the end of the show and signed individual CDs for interested people in the audience.

Despite being one of the most renowned musician of the world, Amjad Ali Khan displayed extreme humbleness during his visit and made it a point to interact with members of the Indian community in Sydney. During most of the dinner events organised in his honour, Ustaad freely interacted with community members and also enquired about the welfare of Indian students in Australia. Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan has been deeply worried about the treatment of Indian students here in Australia and had even written on this subject in the last issue of THE INDIAN. A dinner event was organised by THE INDIAN and Core 4 Entertainment for Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, his musicians and invited guests at the Paravilla Function Centre. The event was sponsored by Ajay from Maya-da-Dhabha. Check dinner pictures at http://www.rohitrevo.com.au/articles/88-ustaad-amjad-ali-khan-dinner-pictures.html.

Sanjay Raina, CEO of Core 4 Entertainment and Ram Chabbra, CEO of THE INDIAN Media Group announced that they were extending their partnership and would be organising Freedom Concert 2010 around 15th August next year.

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Nalini Chander
The Freedom Concert on 15th August 2009 was an evening I was looking forward to for months… and it did not disappoint.  Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s performance was a fabulous experience that not only entertained but touched the soul and took one to realms of perfect beauty and goodness.  As a person who doesn’t have a great knowledge of classical music but an acute appreciation of music itself, it was a glorious evening filled with perfect melody and rhythm – yes, Tanmoy Bose and Mithilesh Jha added their own dash of colour and life to the performance.

The show was well organised. A special moment was when Sanjay Raina came on stage and suggested that we all sing the Indian National Anthem – a befitting action for “Pandrah August”.  It was so nice to see all the audience promptly get to their feet and burst into song; a sense of joyous pride and wistful nostalgia overcame me…

All in all, it was a delightful evening!  The organisers (Team4Core) announced that they plan to make the Freedom Concert an annual fixture.  I hope they do and I look forward to enjoying many such shows in years to come.

Sharmistha Sarkar
Thrilled is inadequate a word to describe how I felt from the moment I heard the first strains of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s sarood. What better way to start the freedom concert than with ‘Vaishnav jan to’ – which brought a tear to many. His audience came from all walks of life and from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds, which made me realize that appreciation of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s sarod was not restricted by any cultural, social or generational bounds. He connected with his audience not only with his music, but also by taking the effort to explain the sounds of the sarod. He demonstrated the dull-tone lines of the sarod’s sound when he played with his fingertips pressed on the fingerboard and the sounds closer to human emotions when he used the grooved edges of the fingernails. How three hours of his recital passed, I did not know – all I can say is that I was left yearning for more..

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