First of all we are sending lots of good wishes for everyone. These are tough and unchartered times and it’s important more than ever that we all stick together and support each other to get through these difficult times.

We want the best for our staff, artists, our audiences and wider society which is at the core of our work. As per the Government’s advice our team is now working remotely.

With the majority of public venues now closed, we have cancelled all our events until the end of May.  We will keep monitoring the situation and provide an update on our events and tours from June 2020 onwards both in the UK and internationally from our website, newsletter and our social media channels.

The safety and well-being of everyone involved with our work is our utmost priority.

Wishing you all the best with getting through these challenging times.

Jaswinder Singh

Director, Asian Arts Agency

This year is the 25th Birthday of The National Lottery.

We’re excited to be a part of the celebrations by joining in the #ThanksToYou campaign.

This celebrates the contribution of National Lottery players in supporting good causes over the past 25 years!

Since The National Lottery’s first draw took place on 19 November 1994, more than £40 billion has been raised for good causes in the areas of arts, sport, heritage and community. That’s £30 million a week making a difference to lives of people and communities throughout the whole of the UK.

OUR #THANKSTOYOU OFFER

To thank National Lottery players for their support, we will running a special 2-for-1 ticket offer. Purchase tickets to see Kuljit Bhamra in collaboration with Davide Giovannini at St George’s Bristol on Saturday 22nd February.

The special 2-for-1 ticket offer will be available for National Lottery ticket holders to purchase tickets from Saturday 23rd November to Sunday 1st December.

Please check our full terms and conditions below.

As a recipient of National Lottery funding, Asian Arts Agency has been able to promote and develop South Asian music in the UK, support artists and continue to produce extraordinary live experiences for audiences and venues, whilst championing the creative case for diversity.

We are one of the hundreds of participating National Lottery-funded projects across the UK who are taking part in the #ThanksToYou campaign in this special Birthday year.

Terms and conditions:

1) One National Lottery Ticket enables the holder to make one booking at the 2-for-1 offer rate, i.e. purchasing 2 tickets for the price of 1.

2) All National Lottery games qualify for the offer, including tickets from any National Lottery draw based game or National Lottery Scratchcard. Proof of purchase of a National Lottery game can be either hard copy ticket or digital.

3) If booking online or via phone, bookers must show proof of National Lottery ticket when collecting their tickets from the box office.

3) The offer is valid from Saturday 23rd November to Sunday 1st December – the duration of the #ThanksToYou campaign.

4) The concert takes place on Saturday 22nd February 2020. Refer to the St George’s Bristol website for further details about the concert.

5) We reserve the right to cap the amount of tickets available as part of this offer. The offer is available on a first come first served basis.

BOOK TICKETS NOW

Follow this link – 241 offer only available from 23 Nov – 1 Dec.

In October we produced 3 concerts with Debashish Bhattacharya and his trio at Arnolfini Bristol, Turner Sims Southampton and Royal Welsh College Cardiff.

This completed an extensive 20-date tour around the UK and Europe in 2019, following 17 concerts over the summer.

We were delighted that the concert at Arnolfini Bristol sold out in advance and we received some wonderful feedback from the event:

“Amazing and inspiring performance”

“Beautiful concert. Appropriate set and setting. Thank you”

“Wonderful evening – bought the CD”

“An absorbing, magical, warm, intimate and beguiling evening”

Debashish Bhattacharya Trio performing at Arnolfini Bristol.

Extended 20-date UK & European Tour

The tour began with a sold out performance at Norwich Playhouse on 25th May as part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.

We then toured the trio around the UK from May – August, with concerts at Subscription Rooms Stroud, Kings Place London and Lakeside Arts Nottingham, to name a few.

We also presented the trio in Europe at Bimhuis Amsterdam, International Music Meeting Holland, Respect Festival Prague and Forde Festival, Norway.

The trio then returned to the UK for a number of prestigious festivals, with a headline performance at Into the Wild and performances at WOMAD and Shambala festivals.

Taste the World Stage at WOMAD – Rupert Russell Photography

Amazing audience feedback

The response from audiences throughout the tour has been excellent with a run of sold out shows and amazing feedback. Here’s a selection of audience feedback from the concerts:

From audiences at Lakeside Arts Nottingham:

“Very satisfied that the artists were just brilliant masters of their craft. Beautiful.”

“Brilliant musicians and a nice venue”

“LOVED the fusion aspect. Absolutely mesmerising. Such mastery. Just wonderful.”

From audiences at Middlesborough Town Hall:

“The whole thing was wonderful. So pleased we tried something new and fantastic it came to Middlesbrough. Thank you for that! The playing and singing were mesmerising. Please come again.”

“The Trio were excellent.  Gifted performers.  Masterful performance which gave an insight to a genre of music that I have not really been exposed to.”

Debashish & Anandi performing on BBC Radio 3 – Music Planet.

New venues

We worked with a number of new venues and festivals for the first time on this tour, extending our reach and bringing world-class Indian music to new communities in the UK and Europe. New partnerships were developed in Middlesborough, Peterborough, Abergavenny, Amsterdam, Prague and Norway.

We also presented a sold out concert in Glastonbury at the Town Hall. Read more more about the sold out concert in Glastonbury and the glowing audience feedback here.

Watch highlights and audience feedback from Glastonbury Town Hall:

We are delighted to have produced two concerts in the South West as part of this tour, with both concerts selling out. This demonstrates the demand for world-class Indian music concerts in the South West region.

View all tour dates and more information on our tour page.

Short films – demonstrating Debashish’s unique instruments

While on tour this summer we also produced some short films with Debashish to introduce his unique instruments. You can watch a couple of them here. Visit our YouTube channel to see all the videos we released during this tour.

Introducing Anandi | Debashish Bhattacharya

Introducing Chaturangui | Debashish Bhattacharya

For more information about Debashish Bhattacharya and his instruments, visit his website.

We are looking forward to Rhythm Utsav 2019, Bristol’s Indian classical music and dance celebration. Let’s take a closer look at this years exciting headline performance Rhythm Yatra and the artiste line up!

The word Yatra means journey. The  vision Rhythm Yatra holds is to present a unique sound harnessing the power of percussion. An exciting journey indeed!

Rhythm Yatra has collaborated with music from different backgrounds and traditions. Artistes have included Tharun Bhatacharya (santoor player), Behanam Samani (Iranian multi-percussion player) and Shri, who is popularly known as Badmash & Shri (asian underground music).

Watch Rhythm Yatra in action!

https://youtu.be/U72_4OoXAtw

The ensemble of Rhythm Yatra this year will include Prathap Ramachandra, Kousic Sen and Mervin Mahendran. Read on to know more about the artistes.

Prathap Ramachandra

Rhythm Yatra is led by internationally acclaimed South Indian percussionist, Prathap Ramachandra. Prathap was born and raised in Bangalore, India. However, the artiste has resided in London for the past 12 years.

Deeply rooted in Carnatic music, Prathap has performed around the world at the biggest festivals and stages. He specialises in Mridangam, Ghatam, Khanjira and Konnakol.

Kousic Sen

Kousic Sen is one of the foremost tabla players of his generation. He was born into a musical family and represents the Banaras gharana tradition.

Kousic has accompanied many notable musicians and dancers around the world. He  has toured extensively participating in  major festivals globally. Kousic’s collaborations include musicians from Spain, Cuba, Indonesia and Persia.

Mervin Mahendran

Mervin Mahendran is a disciple of Shri Kandiah Anandanadesan. He was Initiated into playing the mridangam at age 9. However, Mervin also plays a range of Eastern and Western instruments including the morsing, an instrument similar to a jaw harp.

Mervin has played mridangam and morsing with renowned artists such as  Shri Neyveli  Santhanagopalan and Shri Sandeep Narayan.

Rhythm Utsav will also feature short performances from local community music and dance groups who support and teach Indian classical arts in Bristol.

Bristol’s Senior Artists and Art Schools will include:

Vasumathi Prasad: an accomplished Bharatanatyam dancer and Guru at ‘PraNartana School of Indian Classical Dance’.

Sowmya Vipin: a professional Kuchipudi dancer and Guru at` ‘Arda Kalaa Kendra’.

Gayatri Lele: a professional Hindustani musician and teacher.

Sitara Koushik: a professional Bharatanatyam dancer and Guru at ‘Laasya Dance’.

Organised by community organisation Rhythm India and supported by Asian Arts Agency, Rhythm Utsav is open to all.

Date & Venue: 9 November – Redmaids’ High School, Bristol.

Get Tickets Now!