Sat, May 25
|Herrick Chapel at Occidental College
Sajan Mishra (vocal), Swaransh Mishra (vocal), Ramchandra Joshi (Harmonium), Abhijit Bannerjee (Tabla)
Time & Location
May 25, 2024, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Herrick Chapel at Occidental College, 1600 Campus Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90041, USA
About
On May 25, The Music Circle invites you to a double feature event! Join us for the Parampara Festival of Emerging Artists followed by a vocal concert by Sajan Mishra and his son Swaransh Mishra. While the evening concert is ticketed, the Emerging Artist Showcase is free with RSVP.
2-4:30pm: Parampara Festival of Emerging Artists
4:30 - 6pm: Dinner Break
6pm: Main Concert featuring Sajan Mishra
About the Artists:
Sajan Mishra (vocal)
Pandit Sajan Mishra grew up in Varanasi, living, breathing, and singing the essence of this deeply spiritual Indian city situated on the bank of the holy Ganges and vibrant with the tinkle of temple bells. He received initial training with his brother Rajan Mishra from his great-uncle Bade Ramdas Mishra, a vocalist, and from their father Pandit Hanuman Prasad Mishra and uncle Pandit Gopal Prasad Mishra, both eminent sarangi players.
The family’s music represents a deeply devotional tradition stretching back three centuries. Sajan Mishra, and Rajan Mishra decided to debut together and perform together on stage for life. They performed their first concert at the Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi in a ritual called haazri which literally means 'appearance'.
The deep, brotherly and musical bond between them extended beyond stage and still remains a testimony in their families residing jointly under one roof in India. They founded Viraam, a gurukul in Uttarakhand, where the immersive style of khayal singing of the Benares gharana is taught. Pandits Rajan & Sajan Mishra have performed all over the world for more than four decades, bringing the essence of their style to global audiences.
Following Rajan's passing in 2021, Sajan now performs with his son Swaransh Mishra.
Swaransh Mishra (vocal)
Swaransh Mishra represents the sixth generation of classical music belonging to the great “Banaras Gharana” with a lineage of 350 years. He started exploring the world of music as he has been blessed to fine-tune his skills under the able guidance of his father and uncle Padmabhushan Pandit Rajan-Sajan Misra. Deeply rooted in Indian music tradition, the son and disciple of Pandit Sajan Misra and grandson of the leading exponent and torch-bearer of Kathak dance form, Pandit Birju Maharaj ji, Swaransh is a multifaceted musician, who is also a song writer, composer and a captivating orator. The heart melting melodies written and sung by him enamours the audience. Collaborations and Projects At a very young age he took up projects with some of the great milestones of music like, the percussion maestro Trilok Gortu, and Pandit Rajan-Sajan Misra, for the live concert ‘SPANDAN’ in Mumbai and has contributed for the experimental album ‘SANGAM’ comprising a true sangam of the Hindustani classical vocal by his father-uncle duo and the renowned composer Micheal Nyman. His soul-searching lyrics and spell bounding composition “Ganga Mayya” received Dada Saheb Film Festival Award for the year 2014 for the documentary Bharat Bhagya Vidhata. He has written and composed for upcoming movies - Muawza and Bekhudi. And has in the past worked with popular names of the industry like Shreya Ghoshal, Sonu Nigam and Roopkumar Rathod.
Ramchandra Joshi (Harmonium)
Abhijit Bannerjee (Tabla)