June 16, 23, and 30, 2012 at 9 PM
MELA Foundation Dream House
275 Church Street, New York
Following the Pandit Pran Nath Memorial Tribute Tour 2012 with five sold-out concerts in Berlin, Karlsruhe and Polling, Bavaria, The Just Alap Raga Ensemble featuring La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela, and Jung Hee Choi, accompanied by Naren Budhkar, will present three concerts of Raga Darbari in the contemporary Kirana gharana (style) of North Indian Classical Music. In tribute to Pandit Pran Nath on the 16th anniversary of his passing, the concerts will take place Saturdays, June 16, 23 and 30, 2012 at 9 pm, in the MELA Foundation Dream House light environment, 275 Church Street, 3rd Floor.
The Just Alap Ensemble will perform Pandit Pran Nath’s special arrangement of “Hazrat Turkaman”, a traditional vilampit khayal composition set in Raga Darbari. With deep respect for Pandit Pran Nath’s arrangement of this great composition, Young has composed two-part harmony for the ‘sthayi and for the antara. Similar to his previous concerts with The Ensemble, Young introduces drones in two- and three-part harmony, and even counterpoint in the pre-composition part of the alap, and, as in his earlier composition “Raga Sundara” set in Raga Yaman Kalyan, the harmony line for these compositions in Raga Darbari comprises the introduction of two-part harmony into Indian classical khayal composition, contributing a new element to Indian classical music. The harmony for the ‘sthayi of “Hazrat Turkaman” is dedicated to Jung Hee Choi and was composed as a present on her birthday, November 1, 2009; the harmony for the antara is dedicated to Pandit Pran Nath and was composed on his 91st birthday, November 3, 2009.
The Just Alap Raga Ensemble
La Monte Young · voice
Marian Zazeela · voice
Jung Hee Choi · voice
Naren Budhkar · tabla
The Tamburas of Pandit Pran Nath from the Just Dreams CD