monday 8th march at 6.30 pm

   “Joyful Gnosis” – overtone harmonic chant

    by David Hykes and the Harmonic Choir  

David Hykes is one of the pioneers of modern sacred music and brings to this evening a new dimension in music, the music of the spheres. It is the music of overtones which hold sway throughout the universe and govern all spatial and mathematical relationships. As music, these wondrous sounds retain an extraordinary mystery, for they do not belong to man

 Throat singing, Overtone or Harmonic singing is atmospheric and mesmeric music where the singer manipulates the harmonic resonances as air travels from the lungs past the vocal folds and out of the lips to produce a melody. This type of singing is specific to the vast steppes of Central Asia and Siberia allowing the singer to create more than one pitch at the same time by changing the shape of the resonant cavities of the mouth, larynx and pharynx.

The Harmonic Presence Foundation was founded in 1981 at New York’s Cathedral of St. John The Divine and has been sharing knowledge about the deeper nature of harmony present in the universe and the mind. They have been organizing teachings, practices, seminars and retreats around the world linking the mind, music, meditation and medicine for the past 30 years.

David Hykes is a cultural visionary, an award winning composer-singer, teacher and a pioneer in contemporary sacred music. He collaborates with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Gyuto monks to present his work to neuroscientists of the Mind & Life Institute. His recordings include ‘Hearing Solar Winds’, ‘Harmonic Worlds’ and the recent ‘Harmonic Meeting Concert DVD’

More Video Links:

Harmonic Opening, Spectral Path

Artistes
David Hykes, composer-director
Timothy Hill
Seth Markel
Joel Bluestein
Bruno Caillat, percussion

 monday 8th march at 8.00 pm
  “Songs from an itinerant Sufi” by Madan Gopal Singh  

Unfortunately this melody of the month fashion has resulted in the cultural bastardizations known as Sufi-rock, Sufi-pop and Sufi-Kathak. The public has now come to believe that the repetition of the words Allah, Maula or Ali is all there is to Sufi music. Madan has even convinced himself of the improbability of the existence of a practicing Sufi. The age of fakirs has withered and the dervishes have lost all their sanguine spirit to the whirling traps of unending ritual.
But there is a purer side that still exists.
It lies in the haunting melodies that are offered gratis at the mazaars of pirs and murshids for a gathering of believers who are willing to shed the inhibitions of the self and pass into a state of trance. For Madan Gopal who is neither a Muslim nor a Sufi it lies in trying to catch an invisible something, an emotion, an idea, a time gone by, a lost utopia. It lies in a secular reaffirmation of human dignity. It lies in a fearless vision of cultural plurality, even in cultural intervention.
Drawing from a lifetime experience as a teacher, a singer, a composer, a film maker, a cultural activist and a researcher into the rich musical heritage of an undivided Punjab he brings to us this evening the authentic voice of Punjabi Sufiana.

Madan Gopal Singh has written and lectured extensively on cinema, art and cultural history. He co-wrote the screenplay, dialogues and lyrics for the film ‘Name of a River’, composed the music for the documentary film ‘Paradise on a River of Hell’ and for the film ‘Khamosh Pani”. He was a Presenter – Performer at the Smithsonian Folklife festival 2002 and performed at the 2nd Sufi Soul World Music Festival. He teaches English Literature at Satyawati College in Delhi.


 

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