The Northampton Arts Council works to support and nurture the arts in the city of Northampton. The Council awards grants twice each year to artists and arts groups from both state and locally-raised funds, and seeks to improve public awareness of the arts. Its' goals include maintaining and preserving the rich and diverse cultural heritage of Northampton, programming such annual events of interest to the community as First Night Northampton and Transperformance.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

@FAC presents Amjad Ali Khan with Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan: Three Sarods and Two Tablas


WHAT: Amjad Ali Khan with Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan:
                     Three Sarods and Two Tablas              

WHEN: Saturday, March 1

TIME:            8: 00 p.m.

WHERE:        Fine Arts Center Concert Hall

 “(Amjad Ali) Khan has done for the sarod what (Ravi) Shankar did for the sitar: both have been their instrument’s prime ambassador.”-Michael Church, The Financial Times LTD 2011
"One of the 20th century’s greatest masters of the Sarod" –Songlines World Music Magazine, (UK)
      On Saturday, March 1 the UMass Fine Arts Center Concert Hall hosts a crown jewel in India’s national treasure when Amjad Ali Khan, sarod maestro takes the stage for an 8:00 p.m. show. Amjad will share the stage with his two sons, Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan who represent the seventh generation in a family of illustrious sarod musicians. Tickets are available at the box office in advance or as walk-up sales at the UMass Fine Arts Center Box Office. Please call 413-545-2511 or 1-800-999-UMAS or visit fineartscenter.com to purchase online or for more ticket information. Tickets start at $15 and youth 17 and under are only $10.
    As a sarod virtuoso, Amjad Ali Khan is a superstar. Revered for his expressive playing, in his hands, the sarod’s 25 strings produce a rich palette of overtones mimicking the complex vocal colors and soaring range of the human voice. His concerts have been called magical. The Times-Picayune Greater New Orleans states: “Khan’s soaring improvisations on Indian melodies, evoked memories of country blues, rock guitar rave-ups, and the brainy-but-pastoral jazz of Pat Metheny.”
    Joining Amjad on stage are his two sons, Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan, labelled by the New York Times as “Coming masters…”. After a recent concert, Chris Waddington, reviewer for NOLA.com observed, “though the sons never strayed from family tradition, their roaring performance had me thinking of guitarists such as Jimmy Page and John McLaughlin,…”.Pushing the boundaries of the sarod instrument beyond the traditional classical Indian sound, the ensemble has collaborated with a host of world musicians spanning the range from Dame Evelyn Glennie at the Rhythm Sticks Festival, London  to the Derek Trucks Band at the Savannah Music Festival.  In 2009, Amjad Ali Khan was nominated for a Grammy award in the best traditional world music album category for Ancient Sounds, a joint-venture with Iraqi oud soloist Rahim Alhaj.
  The sarod is a stringed instrument prevalent in classical Indian music and believed to be descended from the Afghan rabab. Smaller than the sitar both the sitar and sarod have sympathetic stings, but the sarod has less and produces a leaner, cleaner sound. Unlike the Afghan rabab and the sitar, the sarod has a fretless metal fingerboard and allows the player to accomplish swooping slides between the melody notes. The sarod sound speaks eloquently of the close connections between India, Afghanistan and the Persian world that influenced northern India.
    Amjad Ali Khan gives the world a new and yet timeless interpretation of sarod music. He is a maestro who considers his audience to be the soul of his motivation. Ali Kahn once said, "There is no essential difference between classical and popular music. Music is music. I want to communicate with the listener who finds Indian classical music remote." In his heart, Amjad Ali Khan has proven his indomitable belief in the integration of two of life's greatest forces, love and music. He is a living example of a man who practices that integration each day of his life, both on stage and off stage.
   Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see one of World Music’s living legends!
The UMass Fine Arts Center’s Asian Arts & Culture Progran and Center Series is proudly sponsored by Baystate Health, Health New England and the Pioneer Valley Hotel Group.
   

The Fine Arts Center’s Asian Arts & Culture and Center Series are sponsored by Baystate Health & Health New England.  Asian Arts & Culture Program Season sponsor is the Pioneer Valley Hotel Group.  Event sponsors are the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

For more information check out: UMASS FINES ARTS CENTER

Serious Play! revisits For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf


We are revisiting Ntozake Shange's choreopoem!

Directed by Serious Play!

Artistic Director Sheryl Stoodley
Assistant Director, Kaliis Smith
With music by Who'da Funk It

With an ensemble of six: Vanessa Alexander, Alysia Cosby, Marcia Gomes,
                                           Evelyn Harris, Kaliis Smith, Samantha Smith.

Talk-backs after each performance, led by our dramaturgs, Nicole Young and Adewunmi Oke.

Three performances: Saturday, March 1 ~ Sunday, March 2 ~ Monday, March 3
at 7:30 pm. A.P.E. Gallery, 126 Main Street, Northampton. Tickets, $20.

For reservations: seriousplaytheatre@gmail.com or call 413.320.3147

Academy of Music Theatre Presents Tanya O’Debra’s Radio Star


The Academy of Music turns back the clock to the 1940s to present Radio Star, a solo show by Tanya O’Debra, on Saturday, March 8th at 8:00pm. Kicking off the evening’s entertainment will be opening acts by Mary Witt and The O-Tones Duo and Boston’s Rogue Burlesque.

Billed as a “filthy, filthy, dirty 1940s radio detective spoof,” Radio Star is a one-woman play written and performed by Brooklyn-based, Boston-born, self-proclaimed funny woman Tanya O’Debra. Taking its inspiration from pulp magazines and film noir, it offers a parodic take on the detective radio serial genre, complete with live Foley sound effects, risible advertising jingles, and a staggering amount of salacious wordplay.

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