I am going to be accompanying Kalaimani Rajhesh Vaidhya on tabla at an upcoming concert in the RTP area on May 20th. It's a rare opportunity for me to play with somebody of this caliber, so I am suitably nervous.
First let me get the logistical details out of the way:
Date: May 20, 2011 7:00 to 10:00 pm
Location, tickets, and directions to the show can be found here
Here is a writeup about the artist.
Kalaimamani Rajhesh Vaidhya was brought up in a rich musical environment. His father Shri K.M. Vaidyanathan was a stalwart both in Mridangam and Ghatam. His tutelage under Smt. Jeyalakshmi started at the tender age of six. He continued learning the finer nuances of music from Smt. Rama Nambinarayanan and his advanced training from the world-renowned carnatic veena maestro Shri Chitti Babu.
Rajhesh Vaidhya is not only a renowned musician in India, his fame and popularity spreads in all the musical stages around the world including Europe, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, Canada, USA, and many more. He has also performed with the Switzerland based contemporary dance troupe “BEJART BALLET.”
Apart from his blistering speed, Rajhesh’s performance is distinguished by his use of electric and amplified strings. He will be performing fusion songs and some light classical music during this concert.
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The one thing I am looking forward to is that I might get an opportunity to play fusion, which means not necessarily stay on tabla the entire time. I will blog about this a little bit more once the practices start and I start preparing for the show.
