Playing with the times

Sitar player Ravi Shankar feels reinventing yourself is the key to success.

Known for his pioneering work in bringing Indian classical music to the West, sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar is bringing the beauty of classical music to Capital with his concert, Music In The Park today.

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The concert, which is a part of the 32nd year celebration of Spic Macay, will be co-performed with his daughter Anoushka Shankar at Nehru Park.Shankar is one of India’s most esteemed musical ambassadors and has composed extensively for films and ballets in India, Canada, Europe and United States. Always ahead of his time, he has many honours to his credit, the most recent being the Trinity Laban Honorary Fellowship that he received on November 20 for his contribution to the performance and promotion of Indian music both nationally and internationally.

Shankar feels that Indian traditional music has to adopt a new style to make it more contemporary. “I have been criticised many a times for not playing pure music, but still I get a lot of local audience everywhere I perform. It’s purely because of my adaptation to a new style of presentation”, says Shankar, adding, “I see a lot of potential in young artists in India and find them very receptive.” Asked to give his opinion on Bollywood music, he says, “I find Bollywood music very interesting

since it offers a lot of variety.”