Concerts, Performances, Workshops

• 2013
• 2012
• 2011
• Visiting Scholarships

2013

Friday, April 12, 2013, 5 p.m.
Hymns from the Sikh Music Tradition
North India, 15th-18th Century
The First Sardarni Harbans Kaur Chair Student Recital

Featuring
Jessie Ann Bolash, Vocal and Tānpūrā
Rikhav Kothari, Pakhāwaj

Special Guest
Michael Braudy, violin

The Helene Fortunoff Theater
Monroe Lecture Center, South Campus

2012

Vaisakhi Festival  - April 14, 2012

A performance of shabad kīrtan by Dr. Francesca Cassio.

In the spring 2012 Dr. Cassio was invited to perform a kīrtan at the Gurudwara Mata Sahib Kaur in Glen Cove, Long Island,  to celebrate the Sikh Vaisakhi Festival. The event was attended by a large audience from the Sikh Community of New York and Long Island.

On this special occasion Dr. Cassio performed Sikh traditional repertoire, in the authentic medieval dhrupad style, playing tānpurā, and accompanied on pakhāwaj by the renowned percussionist Parminder Singh Bhamra from New Delhi. The duo performed Rāg Bihagra in Pancham Sawari, Rāg Jaijawanti in Chartāl, Sri Rāg in Sultāl

Dr Cassio and Parminder Singh Bhamra performing a kīrtan at Mata Sahib Kaur Gurdwara in Glen Cove, NY.

Dr Cassio interviewed by PTC Television Punjab, after the performance at the Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize, Long Island April 2012

“Guru Nanak Prize”  -   April 18, 2012

The class of Sikh Musicology led by Dr Cassio performed a short kīrtan recital at the Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize, an event organized by Hofstra University in collaboration with the Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Charitable Foundation.

The function was held at Garden City Hotel in Garden City, NY, and was attended by hundreds of guests, among them the Hofstra President Stuart Rabinowitz, the Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Herman A. Berliner, Dean of Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Bernard Firestone, Mr. Teji Bindra, Mrs. Indie Singh, Dr IJ Singh, Dr  Eboo Patel, and Dr  Balbinder Singh Bhogal.

Seven students accompanied the performance of Dr. Francesca Cassio and Parminder Singh Bhamra. 

Hofstra Students’ Recital  -  April 29, 2012

The class of Sikh Musicology led by Dr Francesca Cassio performed a recital of traditional Sikh Gurus’ repertoire in the medieval dhrupad style, with the accompaniment of Parminder Singh Bhamra on pakhāwaj. The class performed Rāg āsā,  ālāp and a shabad in partāl (12 and 14 beats). The event was attended and highly appreciated by Hofstra students and faculty.

2011

Dr. Gurnam Singh and his group performing at the Helene Fortunoff Theater, November 2011.

Dr Hakam Singh and Dr. Francesca Cassio felicitating Dr. Gurnam Singh Rathour after his performance at Hofstra University

 “Songs for the Beloved”   - November 13, 2011

The Sardarni Harbans Kaur Chair in Sikh Musicology invited Dr. Gurnam Singh Rathour from the Punjabi University of Patiala (India) for a one-month visiting scholarship. During his visit, Dr. Gurnam Singh Rathour gave a recital of Gurbānī Sangīt, accompanied by Manpreet Singh (harmonium), Amandeep Singh (dilruba) and Bhai Raghbir Singh (tablā).

The event was held at the Helene Fortunoff Theater, in collaboration with the Hofstra Cultural Center and the Joseph G. Hastman International Concert Series.  

Members of the Sikh Community as well as Hofstra students and teachers attended the event. Among the honorable guests: Dr. Hakam Singh with his daughter Mrs. Indie Singh, Dr. IJ Singh, Mr. Teji Bindra, Dr. Balbinder Singh Bhogal (Chair in Sikh Studies), Dr. Firestone (HCLAS Dean), Dr. Robinson (Chair of the Music Department)

VISITING SCHOLARSHIPS

In Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 the Sardarni Harbans Kaur Chair in Sikh Musicology invited to Hofstra University two exponents of the contemporary Sikh Music tradition as visiting scholars. The purpose was to promote the activities of the new endowed Chair among the Sikh and Hofstra communities, as well as to provide students with the opportunity to meet with performers (vocalists and instrumentalists) from the Gurbānī tradition.

Workshop with Dr. Gurnam Singh, Hofstra University Fall 2011

Parminder Singh Bhamra during a workshop at Hofstra University, Spring 2012

SPRING 2012 -  Parminder Singh Bhamra

In April 2012 the Sardarni Harbans Kaur Chair in Sikh Musicology invited for a visiting scholarship of a month the percussionist Parminder Singh Bhamra, currently assistant professor at Anād Conservatory (Sultan Lodhi, Punjab).

During his visit Parminder Singh Bhamra gave four kīrtan-s (April 14, 18, and two performances on April 29), a workshop on pakhawāj (April 20, 27, May 4 ), eight classes, accompanying Dr. Cassio’s lectures in Sikh Musicology, and a radio interview on Hofstra University’s radio station, WHRU, (on April 30, 2012).

In his classes Mr. Bhamra instructed students to play pakhāwaj, and taught the following tāl-s: Tīvrā, Talwarā, Sultāl, Chartāl, Adha Chautāl , Tīn tāl    

SUMMER 2012

Lecture on “Authentic stringed instruments used in the Gurbani tradition” by Bhai Baldeep Singh

On July 15, the Sardarni Harbans Kaur Chair in Sikh Musicology,  in association with The Hemkunt Foundation and the ANAD Foundation organized a lecture on  “Authentic stringed instruments used in the Gurbani tradition” by Bhai Baldeep Singh.

Bhai Baldeep Singh descends from a long tradition of masters of the Gurbani Kirtan, and today is its thirteenth-generation exponent.  His repertoire includes masterpieces that were originally composed by the Sikh Gurus and the Bhagats. Bhai Baldeep Singh is also the prime exponent (khalifa) of the oldest school (gharana) of classical  percussion, pakhawaj/mridang playing, of Punjab known as Sultanpur Lodhi-Amritsari Baaj. Since 1987, with his research in the field he brought about the revival of musical instruments used in Gur-Sikh and Bhakti traditions by handcrafting these once-extinct instruments back to life.