USU's 'Museum and Music' Hosts Hindustani Classical Musical Trio

Utah State University’s Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art (NEHMA) continues its “2016-17 Museum and Music” series with “Keeping Tradition: Hindustani Classical Music,” featuring Nagaraj Rao Havaldar, Thursday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m., in the museum on the USU Logan campus. The event is free and open to the public and light refreshments will be served following the performance.

The “Museum and Music” series aims to connect the visual with the aural by presenting music that relates to artwork in the museum’s collection. The concert is in conjunction with the current exhibitions Lighting the Fire: Ceramics Education in the American West and Transcendence: Abstraction & Symbolism in the American West and will feature the internationally respected Indian vocalist Nagaraj Rao Havaldar, accompanied by Kedarnath Havaldar on tabla (drums) and Sameer Havaldar on harmonium (organ). The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art is the group’s only stop in the western United States during its United States tour sharing the beauty, subtlety and complexity of the Hindustani tradition of Indian classical music.

“In this tradition of Indian classical music, knowledge and skills are traditionally passed down from generation to generation through an intensive student-master relationship.” said Christopher Scheer, of USU’s Department of Music. “Broad parallels to this aspect of Hindustani musical culture can be drawn to the student-teacher relationship in ceramics explored in Lighting the Fire. In both, such protégé-master relationships have, over the last 50 years especially, moved into the more formalized atmosphere of the university.”

In drawing from the mystical and religious elements of Indian culture, the music of the performers can also suggest broad corollaries to many of the works on view in the Transcendence exhibition, especially those which contemplate the divine in many and varied manifestations, Scheer explained.

In the spirit of musical dialogue between cultures, Nagaraj Havaldar and the other musicians will hold workshops on vocal technique and tabla playing in the Hindustani tradition. These will be held Friday, Oct. 28, from 10:30 a.m. to noon (tabla) and 1-2:20 p.m. (vocal) at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art. The workshops are intended for those with little or no knowledge of these traditions. All events are free and open to the public.

The “Museum and Music” series aims to bring in all types of members from both the USU campus and surrounding communities.

“The special mid-week event is intended to be a casual, relaxing evening away from home,” said NEHMA Executive Director Katie Lee-Koven.

The “Museum and Music” series is presented in partnership with USU’s Department of Music and the Caine College of the Arts, with generous support provided by the Caine College’s differential tuition.

NEHMA is located on the USU Logan campus and is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, see the museum’s website.

Contact: Katie Lee-Koven, executive director and chief curator for the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, 435-797-0164, katie.lee.koven@usu.edu