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50th SPIRIT of INDIA A Celebration of Indian Music & Dance since 1980

Ambi & Dr Lakshminarayan Subramaniam Ashwini Bhide Deshpande

NATARAJ CULTURAL CENTRE MELBOURNE

The Musicians

SPIRIT OF INDIA

NATARAJ CULTURALCE

NTRE

Dr L SUBRAMANIAM is recognised in his own country as the‘Emperor among violinists’ (Violin Chakravarty). In theWest, Subramaniamis best known as one of the foremost composers of East-West orchestralmusic and as a superb Jazz fusion artist, having worked with leading jazzartists like Herbie Hancock and Stephane Grappelli. He is equally at homewith Yehudi Menuhin, and Ali Akbar Khan, with whom he has collaborated.Subramaniam has written for the New York Philharmonic and the KirovSymphony Orchestra. He was musical adviser for Peter Brook’s productionof the 9-hour Indian epic The Mahabharata. His renderings of traditionalmusic of the three famous religious composers of South India have leftaudiences spell-bound and critics in rapture.Dr L Subramaniam is accompanied this time on a second violin with his sonand disciple Ambi, a child prodigy like his father. At a very young age he hasimpressed audiences with his virtuosity.On the Mridangam, he is accompanied by Dhulipala Murthy, and on theMorsing by Satya Sai.

www.indianviolin.com

ASHWINI BHIDE DESHPANDE is one of the best-loved northIndian classical singers. She is the inheritor of a noble style of singing - Jaipur-Atrauli. From a young age, she pursued parallel careers in science and music butultimately chose music fulltime after completing her Ph.D. in Biochemistry. Herprincipal Guru and mentor is her mother, Manik Bhide. She has also receivedtraining under Pundits Narayanrao Datar and Ratnakar Pai.With her beautiful voice and almost perfect pitch, she has a distinguished placeamong contemporary singers. Her classical songs are both romantic anddevotional. She chooses songs with very lively and playful language. Grace andadherence to the intricacies and tradition of the Jaipur style are the hallmarksof her singing, with a marked devotional fervour and a charming stagepresence.She is accompanied on the Tabla by Vishwanath Shirodkar and on theHarmonium by Seema Shirodkar.

www.ashwinibhide.in

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSSPIRIT of INDIA 2014 is generously supported by the National Committee of theSydney Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas, the High Commission of India, the PlaykingFoundation, the Melbourne Recital Centre, and the Margaret Dhillon Estate.

Seema & Vishwanath Shirodkar.

Dhulipala Murthy & Satya Sai

AMBI SUBRAMANIUMDr SUBRAMANIAM & ASWINI BHIDEDESHPANDE

Thirty Four Years ofSPIRIT of INDIA

The Nataraj Cultural Centre, which celebratesits 50th concert tour series in 2014, was set up in1980, and incorporated in 1983 as a not-for-profitcultural society, to present professionally eminentIndian musicians and dancers in Australia, to reachthe Australian community at large, instead of servingonly the expatriate Indian community.

At the suggestion of Carrillo Gantner - ChiefPatron of the Centre, founder of The Playbox,philanthropist, former Chairman of the Victorian ArtsCentre, President Melbourne Festival - SPIRIT ofINDIA program was offered to the 1986 AdelaideFestival. Anthony Steel, its longest-serving Director,warmly accepted it and was able to persuade the Festivalof Perth and the New Zealand Festival also to take it.

The program now covers New Zealand as well,with 6 to 8 concerts costing about $150,000. Ourartists are shared with major international arts

festivals and organisations, such as the Adelaide, Perth,WOMADelaide, Auckland, New Zealand festivals;Melbourne Arts Centre, Seymour Centre, SydneyOpera House and the Melbourne Recital Centre.

The program has received assistance from theIndian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi, formost concert tours since 1982. It has received fundingsupport from the Australia-India Council, Canberra,from 1994 to 2010. Support from these two bodiesand the regular assistance from Carrillo Gantner andthe Margaret Dhillon Estate has been crucial.

An understanding of India’s rich culturalheritage is vital to the development of economic andcultural ties with South Asia.

SPIRIT of INDIA is designed to provide theordinary Australian and New Zealand concert-goerwith access to that heritage.

SPIRIT of INDIA has been extended to NewDelhi from 2012 in partnership with the magnificentIndia International Centre.

Lady playing the Veena

The Future of SPIRIT of INDIA Program

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To ensure the survival and future viability of the SPIRIT of INDIA program, Mohindar Dhillon has established The Mohindar Dhillon Music Foundation, Pune, one ofthe two Trusts set up to inherit, by his Will, Mohindar Dhillon’s estate in Panton Hill, on the outskirts of Melbourne; the other one is SPIRIT of INDIA Program Trust setup in Adelaide, in collaboration with the WOMADelaide Foundation. The purpose of these Trusts is to ensure the continuation of the 34-year old SPIRIT of INDIA programin Australia and India after his death. This unique annual program presents, in association with major arts organisations, like the Seymour Centre, Sydney and the MelbourneRecital Centre, and international arts festivals like the Womadelaide Festival, Australia’s most popular 4-day Festival, and the New Zealand Festival, Wellington.

SPIRIT of INDIA has presented annually a galaxy of India’s best musicians, Carnatic & Hindustani, and dancers, some more than once. The program is assisted by theIndian Council for Cultural Relations, the Australia-India Council, and by the Playking Foundation, set up by Carrillo Gantner, an illustrious member of the Myer family,and by the Margaret Dhillon Estate.

The Foundation in Pune, centre of Hindusthani music, will cover the whole of India. Its objectives are to organise annually one concert at the India International Centre,and one in Pune, and to award scholarships to emerging musicians and dancers and to grant assistance to organise concerts. It will seek in its work collaboration with kindredcultural organisations, like the India International Centre, the National Culture Fund, and the Performing Arts Centre, Pune University, the Director of which is a co-optedmember of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee.

The foundation will solicit tax-deductable donations from interested individuals and corporations to augment its resources. It will start functioning fully from January2015, with a substantial donation from Mohindar Dhillon, and with a website that provides information on its activities, on how to seek assistance, and on how to donate.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES: Sharvari Jamenis, KeshavchaitanyaKunte, Nikhil Phatak, Meeta Lakshmi Pandit, Mohindar Dhillon

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: President: Sharvari Jamenis.Secretary: Nikhil Phatak. Treasurer: Keshavchaitanya Kunte.Contact: Nikhil Email: phatak.nikhil78@gmail.com

The Music of IndiaIndian music, Hindustani and Carnatac, has been an

integral part of the religious and cultural life of India for overtwo thousand years, with an elaborate musical theory andliterature. It is purely melodic – it neither needs nor impliesharmony. Unlike Western music, Indian music retains its rootsin pure melody and rhythm.

Indian classical music is based on the concepts of Raga –the melodic basis of composition and improvisation, and Tala –the rhythmic framework. The rhythmic texture of this music ishighly intricate and ornamented with grace notes. It is lyricaland sensual and aims at creating a definite mood. Since Indianmusic is not written down, every performance is virtually a newcomposition, but the musician has to improvise within a well-defined traditional Raga.

“Perhaps the most moving and exciting quality of Indian music is the innocence of its rapture. However sophisticated the means…complex the structure... nothing is lost of the child’s freshness of wonder.”

Yehudi Menuhin The musical mode Raga Megh Malhar

Dr NATESAN RAMANI The best loved and admired Carnatic Flute Virtuoso“Ramani’s music is pure and unadorned, like the voice of a boy soprano” Jill Sykes, Sydney Morning Herald

Margaret Dhillon Memorial ConcertThe India International Centre annual concert and the Melbourne

concert are dedicated to the memory of Margaret Dhillon, who died in2001.The idea of a cultural society which should promote Indian musicand dance in this region was hers. She encouraged Mohindar Dhillon topursue the idea at a high professional level. She made visiting Indianartists feel at home with her generous hospitality.

Margaret studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music, London.In 1974, she married Mohindar Dhillon, then a Lecturer in English atthe Delhi University. She was drawn to Indian classical music afterhearing Ravi Shankar at a private concert in Delhi.

She was loved and admired by her many friends. Though very English in her upper middle class upbringing, she

was always fascinated by other cultures and new ideas. Her many interests ranged from Conservationto Russian Literature, which she taught at Queensland and Monash universities. With her love andshrewd understanding of literature and a beautiful voice, she was an inspiring teacher and broadcaster.

She sought wild and beautiful places and meaning and substance in life:“Without love, nothing makes sense.”“You have to hold and to know a beautiful permanency in life, for only this substance can survive death. But if you never know it, never find it, what happens to it?

FRONT PAGE: Agra marble plaque from Margaret’s grave, using the same semi-precious stones as used on the Taj Mahal.

SPIRIT of INDIA Cultural ToursAbout her (India) there is the elusive quality of a legend of long ago. Repellent she is sometimes,

but everyone is drawn to her – this woman with a past”. - J Lal NehruThe Nataraj Cultural Centre, Melbourne, offers two 16-day tours to India annually - in

September & December (school holidays) - as part of its cultural activities. These aredesigned for the traveller interested in studying an ancient but thriving Asian civilisation.They look at the cultural life of India and explore the elusive spirit that informs her music,art and architecture. You won’t get a unique tour like this for love or money elsewhere!

The tour is designed and led by the Centre’s president, Mohindar Dhillon, a formerCivil Service Administrator in the Punjab, a Reader in English at the University of Delhi, anda teacher at the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE. He is assisted by Furqan Ali, agraduate in Indian History and Architectural Photography.

We visit quite a few major centres of historical interest: Delhi (ancient and modern),Agra (the Taj Mahal and the Fort), Varanasi (ancient holy city); in Rajasthan Jodhpur(fort and palaces), Ranakpur (1400-pillared Jain Temple), Kumbalgarh (magnificentfort and India’s most beautiful Aodhi Hotel), Udaipur (Lake Palace) Ellora (rock-cut cavetemples), and Gangtok in Sikkim for sublime Himalayan views. Tour video sent onrequest.

We use elegant and comfortable superior 4-5 star hotels, with India InternationalCentre in New Delhi – the cultural hub of Delhi – as the base. Modest all-inclusive Landprice ($5,500) includes 8 domestic flights, twin-shared accommodation, breakfast anddinner, all transfers and sightseeing with entry fees, and services of an experiencedand knowledgeable tour leader. You buy your own flights to India.

Tour departures: 19 September, 27 December, 2015.Arrangements in India are by Shreema Tourist Services, New Delhi; flight bookings by Eltham Flight Centre, Eltham.

1992 SPIRIT of INDIA group with Val Morgan(Val Morgan Advertising) in Kangra Valley.

Anthony Steel, former directorAdelaide Festival, with a Tibetan familyin Dharmsala.

Visit www.nataraj.org.aufor Booking Conditions, Detailed Itinerary & Booking Application.

Contact: Mohindar Dhillon - mohindar@ozemail.com.au Phone: 03 9719 7354

SPIRIT of INDIA artwork by Barry Cleavin Concert ScheduleMELBOURNE

Wednesday 26 November 2014, 7.00 pmElisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre

SYDNEYFriday 28 November 2014, 7.00 pm

York Theatre, Seymour Centre

“I find nothing more inspiring than the music-making ofmy very great colleague Dr Lakshminaryan Subramaniam.”

– Yehudi Menuhin

“Paganini and poet.” – San Francisco Chronicle

“Ashwini Bhide Deshpande is one of our finest classicalsingers.”

– Ravi Shankar

Meeta PanditHINDUSTHANI SINGER

March 2015WOMADelaide & other festivals and venues

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Barry Cleavin is an eminent printmaker from New Zealand, whosupported SPIRIT of INDIA in Christchurch, by selling his work.He also produced fanciful images of some of our music & musicians.Above right: Etching ‘Early Morning Raga’Above left: Images of - Dr N Ramani, Dr Lakshminarayan Subramaniam,

Amjad Ali Khan.

Coming SoonSPIRIT of INDIA 2015

Jayanthi KumareshVEENA VIRTUOSO

July - August 2015Queensland Music Festival;

Darwin Festival; Melbourne & Sydney.

U SHRINIVAS (Mandolin 2002, 09)

PARVEEN SULTANA (Vocal ’96)

HARI CHAURASIA (Flute ’88)

AMJAD ALI KHAN (Sarod 86, 2003, 06)

SULTAN KHAN (Sarangi 2004)

SHARVARI JAMINUS (Kathak Dance 2013)

ASHWINI B DESHPANDE (Vocal Classical 2014)

NATESAN RAMANI (Flute 87, 91, 2001, 02, 08, 09)

SONAL MANSINGH(Orissi Dance 82, 05)

SHIVKUMAR SHARMA (Santoor 88, 94, 99, 2007, 12)

SUDHA RAGUNATHAN (Vocal 2013, 14)

MEETA PANDIT (Vocal Classical 2013, 14)

L SUBRAMANIAM(Violin 92, 2000, 06, 11, 14)

A Gallery of Selected SPIRIT of INDIA Artists 1980-2014

RASHID KHAN (Vocal Classical 2005)

MANJIRI KELKAR (Vocal Classical 2008, 09, 13, 14)

RAJENDRA PRASANNA (Flute & Shehnai 2011)

Friends of SPIRIT of INDIA

SATISH C. MEHTADirector General, ICCR

ROB BROOKMANFormer Artistic Director,

Adelaide Festival

JACK BODYComposer & Assoc. Professor,

NZ School of Music

BIREN NANDAHigh Commissioner for India

SUNJAY SUDHIRConsul General,

Sydney

PAVAN KUMAR VARMAFormer Director General, ICCR

ANNETTE TRIPODIManager Operations,

WOMADelaide

RONALD RIDLEYEmeritus Prof Ancient History

Melb. Uni.

SUJATHA SINGHFormer High Commissioner for

India

IAN SCOBIEExecutive DirectorWOMADelaide;

TIM WOOLFORD-SMITHFoundation Member;

BARRY CLEAVINPrintmaker

MILOS MILANDINOVICExecutive, Presenter Services,

Melbourne Arts Centre

PAUL COXFilm Director

THERESE RIDLEYLinguist & Scholar

MANIKA JAINConsul General,

Melbourne

Above: At home with Susan and Michael Abbott, formerChairman Australia-India Council from L to R: Sandra Mason, Anthony Steel(former artistic director AdelaideFestival) and Shivkumar Sharma.

Top: Manjiri and Dr Ramani at home with Barry Cleavin andPhillip Trustuum (printmakers) & Dee Cleavin right, Terence andEileen (Canterbury University) inChristchurch. Barry and Phillip sold their work tosupport the Christchurch concert.

KERALA KALAMANDALAM DANCE COMPANY

(Kathakali Dance- Drama 2010)

Inset: Drummers with Andrew Ford, ABC Music Show at

WOMADelaide

MAILING LIST PATRONS ARE URGED TO SEND US THEIR FULL NAME & EMAIL ADDRESS FOR REGULAR INFORMATION ON CONCERT & TOUR PROGRAMS.

Above: Ian Scobie, Executive Director of WOMADelaide, withson William and wife Frances relaxing at Nataraj CulturalCentre, Panton Hill.Top Left: Sudha Ragunathan, Paul Cox, Rosie, Mary Vallentine,Manjiri Kelkar, Carrillo Gantner.Bottom Left: High Commissioner Shukla, Dr L Subramaniam,Amjad Ali Khan, Mohindar Dhillon, Sumathi Krishnan.Right: Kathak dancer Sharvari Jamenis who toured Australiawith 4 singers in May 2013.

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SPIRIT of INDIA with flautist Dr Ramani: 2001 WOMADelaide

Press Reviews“SPIRIT of INDIA program… allows wonderfulopportunities to see and hear artists who are the equalsof the very best in the world.” Sydney Morning Herald

“SPIRIT of INDIA musicians and dancers… comparableto putting Sutherland, Woodward, Tuckwell, etc…together.”

The Advertiser (’88 Adelaide Festival)

INNOCENT RAPTURE IN RAGAS“For 25 years, Mohindar Dhillon, based in

Melbourne, has been quietly enriching Australianculture by presenting some of the best of India’sclassical musicians.

He set up the Nataraj Cultural Centre in 1980and with the support of philanthropist CarrilloGantner and a former director of the Adelaide andSydney festivals, Anthony Steel, has been able to tourhis artists throughout Australia and New Zealand.These musicians have challenged western perceptionsof what is beautiful and dramatic with the mysteriousintensity of their ancient ragas.’’

Anna King Murdoch, 2006 Sydney Morning Herald

MOHINDAR DHILLON WINS THE MYER PERFORMING ARTS

AWARD

Mohindar Dhillon, FounderPresident of the Melbourne-basednon-profit Nataraj Cultural Centre,has won the 2013 Myer FoundationPerforming Arts Facilitator’s Awardfor services to Indian classical musicand dance in Australia over 33 years.

NATARAJ CULTURAL CENTRE: Patrons

NATARAJ CULTURAL CENTRE: Executive Officers

CARRILLO GANTNER AO SONAL MANSINGH ANTHONY STEEL AM MICHAEL ABBOTT AO QC

MOHINDAR DHILLONPresident

ARJUN RAINAVice President

JOHN LOVE Ass. Secretary

DUNSTAN TOWNINGTreasurer

MANDAR JOSHISecretary

GEOFF GARRARDConcert Co-ordinator

Nataraj Cultural CentreThe Centre’s major activities are the SPIRIT of

INDIA concerts, the SPIRIT of INDIA cultural tours,and seminars on Australian - Indian themes.Membership is open to any one 18 or older.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEEPRESIDENT: Mr Mohindar Dhillon

V PRESIDENT: Arjun RainaSECRETARY: Mandar Joshi

ASSISTANT SECRETARY: Mr John LoveTREASURER: Mr Dunstan Towning

CONCERT CO-ORDINATOR: Mr Geoff GarrardMEMBERS: Radhey Gupta, Mitu Bhowmick,

Tim Woolford-Smith, Sudhir Das.

ADDRESS54 Rodger Road, Panton Hill VIC 3759

Telephone/Fax: 61 3 9719 7354E-mail: mohindar@ozemail.com.auInc in Victoria: ABN 51 946 242 508

Website: www.nataraj.org.au

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SPIRIT OF INDIA

NATARAJ CULTURAL

CENTRE

NATARAJ CENTRE LOGO: The elephant-headedHindu god Ganesha, the Remover of Obstacles,sketched by Melbourne painter Neil Douglas.PROGRAM:Artwork & Design by Mark Westaway,Gumboot Graphics.

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SPIRITofIN

DIAPanton Hill House

54 Rodger Road, Panton Hill, 6-acre home of Nataraj Cultural CentreInset: Isobel holding Maxi, Boogie, Mohindar & Murphy and Miranda & Fedka