Ragas Live Festival 2018, a 24 Hour Music Event in New York City

Over 80 musicians will perform at the Ragas Live Festival 2018, including leading-edge projects from Brooklyn Raga Massive, Vijay Iyer, Max ZT & Karsh Kale, and Ganavya Doraiswamy. This year, the festival takes place October 6th starting at 5:00 p.m. to October 7 at 5:00 p.m. at Pioneer Works.

It is produced by Brooklyn Raga Massive, Pioneer Works and the podcast NYC Radio Live, which is releasing a compilation, Ragas Live Retrospective, chronicling its most exciting sets and essential artists.

The 2018 lineup combines classical masters and innovators. The festival will host the world premiere of Ritual Ensemble of Harvard with Vijay Iyer, Yosvany Terry, Ganavya and Rajna Swaminathan; symphonic explorations from the 20+ members of the Go:Organic Orchestra with Brooklyn Raga Massive; The Arun Ramamurthy Trio and the Coltrane Raga Tribute will show how jazz and classical forms can intertwine and inform one another.

Boundary crossing collaborations include dulcimer virtuoso Max ZT and tabla innovator Karsh Kale, a 14th-century Sufi music chamber ensemble (Falsa), a raga-infused chamber project (Trina Basu and Amali Premawardhana’s Karavika), and a Bulgarian trio (Bulgarian Voices) collaborating with a Carnatic (South Indian) choir (Navatman).

Classical lights include sets by Partha Bose and Flute Raman, Samarth Nagarkar, Steve Gorn, and Jay Gandhi.

Notable video artist Nitin Mukul will be presenting the visual element of the experience. The essence of his video pieces, created from melting ice and abstract paintings will intersect with each raga’s specific characteristics and their relationship to the time of day.

Artistic Director Arun Ramamurthy indicates that diversity is the key to the concert experience. “As curators, we honor the ragas’ connections to nature and program classical artists at the opportune times. But what makes this festival so special is that we balance classical sets with innovative raga-inspired projects that interpret traditional material in a highly creative way. This balance over the course of 24 hours allows the listener to traverse a wide spectrum of sound, going deep into traditional ragas while also experiencing more experimental interpretations and reimaginations of the Indian classical form. It’s a cathartic experience.”

“There is an incredible synergy between the artists and the audience as we journey through 24 sets of music,” adds associate producer Lauren Crump. “It is a transformative experience for all involved.”

The Full Festival Lineup (subject to change):

5:00 – 6:00 – Pradhanica Dance and Music Company
Michael Lukshis, Jin Wong, Kaumil Shah, Vincent Pierce Smith, Indro Roy Chowdhury

6:00 – 7:00 – V.K. Raman
V.K. Raman (flute), Arun Ramamurthy (violin), Akshay Anantapadmanabhan (mridangam)

7:00 – 8:00 – Mitali Bhawmik
Mitali Bhawmik (vocal), Anirban Chakravarty (harmonium), Dibyarka Chatterjee (tabla)

8:00 – 9:00 – Ganavya
Ganavya (voice), Rajna Swaminathan (mridangam), Max Ridley (bass), Charles Overton (harp)

9:00 – 10:00 – Karavika
Trina Basu (violin), Amali Premawardhana (cello), Perry Wortman (bass), Rajna Swaminathan (mridangam)

10:00 – 11:00 – Aditya Prakash
Aditya Prakash (vocal), Arun Ramamurthy (violin), Abhinav Seetharaman (mridangam)

11:00 – 12:00 – Anirban Dasgupta
Anirban Dasgupta (sarod), Mir Naqib Islam (tabla)

12:00 – 1:00 – Samarth Nagarkar –
Samarth Nagarkar (vocal), Rohan Prabhudesai (harmonium), Sandip Ghosh (tabla)

1:00 – 2:00 – Max ZT / Karsh Kale
Max ZT (dulcimer), Karsh Kale (tabla)

2:00 – 3:00 – Arun Ramamurthy Trio
Arun Ramamurthy (violin), Perry Wortman (bass), Sameer Gupta (drumset)

3:00 – 4:00 – Ross Hammond Trio with special guests
Ross Hammond (guitar), Pawan Benjamin (sax/bansuri), Sameer Gupta (drums), Morgan Zwerlein (percussion)

4:00 – 5:00 – Unstruck Sound
Eric Fraser (bansuri), Neel Murgai (throat singing/daf/sitar/electronics), Aaron Shragge (trumpet, shakhuhachi, electronics)

5:00 – 6:00 – Steve Gorn
Steve Gorn (bansuri), Shiva Ghoshal (tabla)

6:00 – 7:00 – Abhik Mukherjee –
Abhik Mukherjee (sitar) Shiva Ghoshal (tabla)

7:00 – 8:00 – Jay Gandhi
Jay Gandhi (bansuri), Ehren Hanson (tabla)

8:00 – 9:00 – Andrew Shantz
Andrew Shantz (vocal), Roshni Samlal (tabla)

9:00 – 10:00 – Rajeswari Satish –
Rajeswari Satish (vocal), Radhika Mani (violin), Bala Skandan (mridangam)

10:00 – 11:00 – Partha Bose
Partha Bose (sitar), Aditya Narayan Banerjee (tabla)

11:00 – 12:00 Go: Organic Orchestra with Brooklyn Raga Massive
Improvisationally conducted by Adam Rudolph Arun Ramamurthy – violin; Jay Gandhi – bansuri, Neel Murgai – sitar; Charles Burnham – violin; Trina Basu – violin; Swaminathan Selvaganesh – kanjeera; Sameer Gupta – Tabla; David Ellenbogen – guitar; Mari Tanaka – Tanpura; Michel Gentile – c and alto flute, bamboo flutes; Sylvain Leroux – tambin, flute, bamboo flutes; Ze Luis – c and alto flute, bamboo flutes; Steve Gorn – bansuri flute, hichiriki; Sean Sonderegger – contrabass clarinet; Sara Schoenbeck – bassoon, sona; Julianne Carney-Chung – violin; Sana Nagano – violin; Sarah Bernstein – violin; Richard Carr – violin; Stephanie Griffin – viola; Gwen Laster – viola; Jake Carkey – cello; Leco Reis – contrabass; Kenny Wessel – electric guitar; Alexis Marcelo – electric keyboards; Damon Banks – electric bass; Dan Kurfirst – cajon, frame drums, percussion Rogerio Boccato – pandero, zabumba, percussion; Joe Hertenstein- tiny kit percussion

12:00 – 1:00 – Navatman Music Collective & Bulgarian Voices Trio –
Roopa Mahadevan, Preetha Raghu, Vlada Tomova, Shelley Thomas

1:00 – 2:00 – Falsa

2:00 – 3:00 – Nitin Mitta & Suryaksha Deshpande
Nitin Mitta (tabla), Suryaksha Deshpande (tabla), Andrew Shantz (harmonium)

3:00 – 4:00 – Ritual Ensemble of Harvard
Vijay Iyer (piano), Yosvany Terry (saxophone), Ganavya (vocal), Rajna Swaminathan (mridangam)

4:00 – 5:00 – Coltrane Raga Tribute
Sameer Gupta (drums), Jay Gandhi (bansuri), Trina Basu (violin), Arun Ramamurthy (violin), Brandee Younger (harp), Marc Cary (piano), Rashaan Carter (bass), Abhik Mukherjee (sitar)

More at www.ragaslive.org

headline photo: Unstruck Sound – Neel Murgai