The Indo-French duo sings to the tune of Telugu Folk song, as a part of Touring the Land, a tour where the two seasoned artists meet musicians in cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Jaipur and Kolkata.
This collaboration was facilitated by Institute Français in India, Alliance Française of Hyderabad, State Art gallery and KL HI-TECH secure print Limited.
For the first performance in Hyderabad, the artists had performed at the State Art Gallery, Madhapur, on Feb 4th 2023, at 5:30 pm. Dr. Lakshmi Korra IAS, Director of State Art Gallery, Prof. Tirumala Rao graced the event.
Azarak
Alexandre Jurain, an ICCR scholarship awardee, is a disciple of Shri Abir Singh Khangura who taught him Esraj. He is a French citizen by birth, but an Indian by his passion for Indian classical music. He joined Shantiniketan 25 years back, but traveled intensively and performed in more than 300 concert in total. Today, he is only the rare exponent of Esraj solo in Dhrupad form.
Sukanta Bose, was introduced to Indian classical music and to the interpretations of Rabindra Sangeet at a very young age. While studying painting at Kala Bhavan Visa-Bharati University, she learnt singing from master Vikram Singh and Mohan Singh.
Alexandre and Sukanta compose the duet Azarak experimenting new forms of expression, as well as diving into the timeless repertoire of poets Lalon Fakir and Rabindranath Tagore.
Azarak Duo: Sukanta Bose on the left, Alexandre Jurain on the right
Thanks to Prof Jayadheer Tirumala Rao they got acquainted with folk musician Dasari Kondapa, the last Burra Veena maestro from Narayanpet district of Telangana, who is widely known for his folk and devotional songs.
They also got to perform with Tabla maestro, Ustad Najmuddin Javed disciple of Ustad Shaik Dawood Khan Saheb. He is pursuing the technical intricacies from Padmashri Pandit Suresh Talwalker. He is the first Hyderabadi Table player who has honoured “Top Grade Award” from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, New Delhi.
Ustad Najmuddin Javed, Tabla Maestro
Dasari Kondapa, Burra Veena Maestro
Professor Tirumala Rao is pioneering the preservation and promotion of the incredible wealth of artistic expressions in the two Telugu speaking states with the project Adya Kala.