What | Leading us through the festive bonfires of Lohri yet again, Madan Gopal Singh and his Chaar Yaars, will be joined this year at The Habitat Lohri Celebrations in a musical bonhomie by the rising Sufi star- Dhruv Sangari, the young Harpreet and a very special guest, the iconic pop singer, Jasbir Jassi.

Where| Habitat World, India Habitat Centre (IHC), Lodhi Road.

When |13^th  Janaury, 2013 at 07:30pm

Entry | Seating on first come first serve basis. Make your reservations in advance.

For more details | Call 43663333, Extn. 3080, 3090 for more details

What | Jar Funk, a workshop on glass-jar painting, by Happy Hands Foundation, will get you started on the classic style of Patachitra bottle painting.

Where | Happy Hands Foundation, Saket.

When | 12^th January, 12:00pm-05:00pm

Fee | Rs 450.

For more details | http://www.facebook.com/events/127275194104079/?suggestsessionid=5090702691357642825

{PHOTOGRAPHY}

What | Nemai Ghosh: Satyajit Ray and Beyond will be Delhi Art Gallery’s first photo exhibition, showcasing the Nemai Ghosh Archive. Nemai Ghosh is known for his lifelong association with the filmmaker Satyajit Ray and his films, and this exhibition documents his extensive work on cinema, on the occasion of 100 years of Indian cinema in 2013.

Where | Delhi Art Gallery, Hauz Khas Village.

When | 8^th – 31^st January.

For more details | http://www.delhiartgallery.com//exhibition/exhibition.aspx

{MUSIC}

What | Emperor Minge + Teddy Boy Kill + Da Saz at blueFROG will be a Crazy and electrifying musical night; both Emperor Minge and Teddy Boy Kill have changed the game since their entry into the scene. Kickstarting FROG Delhi’s “Abstract Nights” property, they’re here to move your groove!

Where | blueFROG, Mehrauli

When | 10^th Janaury, 10:00pm-01:30am

Entry | Rs. 350

For more details | www.blufrog.co.in

 {THEATRE}

What |  Broadway inspired musical: Revisiting the hedonistic antics of the twenties, The Qutub will be raising the curtains to a Broadway inspired musical from the time of the burlesque and cabaret at The Dirty Martini.

Where | Olive Bar and Kitchen, One Style Mile, Mehrauli, New Delhi. #011 2957 4444

When | January 11^th at 9 PM.

Entry | Free

What | Bharat Rang Mahotsav- 5th to 20th January, 2013  {National School of Drama}

Indian theatre’s biggest events: the Bharat Rang Mahotsav or the annual festival of the National School of Drama displays two weeks of back-to-back plays, lectures, installations and more. Among the plays on this weekend is Indian Tempest {A new adaptation of Shakespeare’s last comedy}. 

Indian Tempest is performed outdoors, and developed in collaboration with Indian artists to re-contextualize the island of Caliban, colonized by Prospero. Set on a timeless imaginary island, it evokes power and decline, forgiveness and regret, ignorance and wisdom, dreams and ambitions, submission and rebellion, bringing along in its wake a bestiary of spirits, shapes and monsters, who must share a world where music rules everything and poetry is beyond language.

Where | Kamani Auditorium, 7pm

When | 12th January

{LBBD EVENTS}

What | Go Back in Time at the Purana Qila- We at {LBBD} will walk through Purana Qila, the Old Fort, with our in-house history enthusiasts Talha Siddiqui and Mohd. Salman. Listen in on a story of the forgotten times, photograph the ruins of the past and enjoy the history of our city; the {LBBD} experience of Purana Qila brings all this and much more.

When | January 19th, 10.30 am {Saturday}.

Entry |   Rs. 650/- per head for individuals, Rs. 600/- per head for groups of 2 or more. Limited seats.

For more details |  http://littleblackbookdelhi.com/2013/01/11145/heritage-walk-in-purana-quila-explore-with-lbbd

Have a great weekend, Delhi!

The post The Weekend Checklist appeared first on Little Black Book, Delhi.

What | Bauchklang from Austria live at blueFROG! Literally meaning ‘belly-sound’, Bauchklang is a five-piece “vocal groove collective” from Austria. With a unique mixture of human beatboxing, mouth percussions and vocal sounds, they cover a musical landscape stretching from Electro over Minimal, to Dub and Hip Hop, using only their voices.

Where | blueFROG,  Mehrauli

When | 14^th December{Friday}, 10:30pm – 1:30 am

Entry | Rs 700

More Details | www.bluefrog.co.in

What | Congolese Band Rio Des Djika performing at the TLR Café . Rio Des Djika comprises of percussionist Schengen, lead guitarist Jehu Mandjoko, bassist Guy Bass, drummer Tresor Mayala and a trio of vocalists – Cedrick Kaneba, Thierry and Super Apeta. Performing mostly in Lingala, a Bantu dialect, with some tracks in French and English, their repertoire includes reggae, jazz and Congolese rumba tunes, locally called soukous, a word derived from the French word “secousse” or “shake”.

Where | TLR Café , Hauz Khas Village

When | 14^th December {Friday}, 9:00pm onwards

More Details | www.tlrcafe.com

{Films}

What | The Australian Film Festival 2012 at Siri Fort. The core idea behind AFFI 2012 is to deepen cinematic ties between two diverse film cultures and create a unifying platform for the sharing of stories, ideas and possibilities. Their line up this year consists of an eclectic mix of Australian feature films, collaborative documentaries and a selection of contemporary shorts!

Where | Siri Fort

When | 14^th , 15^th and 16^th December

More Details | www.aafilminitiative.org

What | The Batman Trilogy showing at Iron Curtain this Sunday. Iron Curtain is back with another extravaganza for all movie lovers with The Batman Trilogy showing all through Sunday beginning from 3pm uptill midnight!

Where | Iron Curtain, Hauz Khas Village

When | 16^th December, 3PM – 6PM {BATMAN BEGINS}, 6PM – 9PM {THE DARK KNIGHT}, 9PM – 12PM {DARK KNIGHT RISES}

{FOOD}

What | National Association of Street Vendors of India presents the Street Food Festival. This festival is aimed at promoting the street foods from the streets across India with hygiene and affordable prices in the tough time of growing food insecurity and inflation. Food Junkies {like us!} do not miss this one.

Where | Main Lawns, Constitution Club, Vallabhai Patel House, Rafi Marg

When | 14^th , 15^th and 16^th December

More Details | http://www.facebook.com/Streetfoodfest ,  nasvinet.org/newsite

What | A Gingerbread House- Baking Workshop at the CMYK Bookstore and Café. Calling all kids aged 6-14 years! Come and join the Cafe at CMYK for a Gingerbread House Workshop, a December tradition for those who want to celebrate the season creatively.

Where | CMYK  Bookstore and Café

When | 15^th December {Saturday} 11 am- 1 pm

Fee | 1500 per child

More Information | Contact Anjali Bakaya on anjali@rolibooks.com or call 011 40682000

{THEATRE}

What | Short and Sweet Delhi 2012 GALA FINALE : 10 best plays from 3rd edition of the 10-minute Theatre Festival

Think the best of contemporary theatre, staged by stellar production companies! From a selection of 42 plays, the ‘Gala Finale’ brings the top 10, followed by an awards ceremony. We’re especially excited about 2922: The Ballad Of Vedant Saafi {FreeParking Entertainment} and Between Romeo and Juliet {Barefoot Productions}.

Best of luck to all the participants!

When | 14th December, 7.30 pm

Where | Kamani Auditorium

Tickets | http://in.bookmyshow.com/concerts/Short-Sweet-delhi-tickets/

For more Info | http://www.facebook.com/events/125454480947510/ and http://www.shortandsweet.org/shortsweet-theatre/our-festivals/delhi

What | Lal Qila Ka Aakhri Mushaerah play at the  Shri Ram Centre. Written and directed by Dr M Sayeed Alam and starring Tom Alter, the play beautifully recreates the last Mushaerah that took place at Lal Qila before 1857. It thus presents some of the tallest of Urdu poets on one stage- Mirza Ghalib, Ustaad Zauq, Momin Khan Momin, Dagh Dehlavi and of course Bahadur Shah Zafar, played by none other than the one and only Tom Alter!

Where | Shri Ram Centre, Safdar Hashmi Marg

When | 16^th December {Sunday} 4pm – 7 pm

Tickets | Available at Book My Show

Have a great weekend, Delhi!

The post The Weekend Checklist appeared first on Little Black Book, Delhi.

There’s a difference between learning how to play an instrument and learning music. There’s also a difference between playing an instrument and making music. While some choose to tread the path of learning and playing songs, others delve into the realm of creating music. {LBBD}’s Suchita Salwan caught up with Rohit Gupta & Jayant Manchanda, musicians and students of Global Music Institute to understand how this tryst with music began, plans ahead, and the art of making music and connecting with others through this.

Suchita | When did you take up music, and why?

Jayant | I started learning guitar in the 12th grade as a hobby, but left my practice to study for my board exams. It was only once they got over I took on the bass at a local school. Since then, it’s been a roller-coaster ride in pursuit of strengthening my skills as a bass player. I became more proactive with my learning, and started jamming with other bands, in fact as many bands as I could! There’s just this amazing energy created when I play live. It’s like every time you get onstage, you’re creating something new- it’s a different experience altogether. This really pushed me to take up as many gigs as possible and play with as many musicians possible, and I realized I wanted to take music seriously.

 

Rohit | I took up music when I was 15. The only inspiration I had was my music teacher in school. I became a part of the school fusion ensemble and started performing for school events, competitions etc. I also joined a college band while I was in school which used to play for Art of living. Though my teacher in school is a percussionist, she really helped me develop myself as a pianist. I started taking piano lessons at YMCA, New Delhi and I learnt how to read and write music. After completing school, I knew that music is what I want to do.

 

 

Suchita | What’s your principle instrument, and what inspired you to pick it up?

Jayant | Honestly, I don’t know why I picked up the bass! And I still can’t really say. In fact, when I started learning the bass I had no idea about what bass was all about. Nonetheless. I love playing it!

Rohit | My principle instrument is Piano. I took up piano because I loved the sound of the instrument. I was also fascinated by rhythms and percussion instruments, but I wanted to learn and explore music through Piano as my principle instrument.

 

Suchita | Where had you studied music prior to Global Music Institute?

Jayant | While I had an understanding of the basics through classes in high-school, on graduating I approached Delhi based Jazz musician Brennon Denfer for lessons and started learning from him, and simultaneously was playing at gigs with one of my college bands and a local band. The same year, Aditya Balani {founder, GMI} returned from Berklee and I began studying music theory with him. Learning from him really helped with my concepts and got me better acquainted with different aspects of music. Following that, Aditya and Tarun organized a two day workshop which opened a whole new world for me!

Rohit | So my learning started at YMCA, where I was taught for 2 years. Then I joined Arttree Music Academy where I studied for almost a year.  It was actually right before the opening of GMI when I started taking lessons from Aditya, and I was taught by him for for 6 months post which I joined GMI.

 

Suchita | How was your GMI experience and what’s been your greatest learning through it?

Jayant | With music it comes down to finding inspiration every day, and I think that’s one of the biggest takeaways from my experience at GMI. The thing that sets them apart from other schools is the level of knowledge made available to students and their style of teaching. It’s a place for musicians who take their art seriously- you have an opportunity to learn from a diverse international faculty coming from various stylistic and cultural backgrounds, and premiere schools like Berklee. I’ve been able to get a lot of work as a musician, but more than anything the amount of confidence I’ve gained playing my instrument is amazing

Rohit | Studying at GMI helped me develop as a musician, listener and a performer. I’ve been able to explore various forms, styles and genres of music, which has helped define what I want to do and pursue as a musician. I feel that their approach towards teaching music is holistic, professional & goal-oriented, while being really engaging at the same time! The classes included things like Ear Training, Harmony, Ensemble, Composition, Konokol and private lessons. What’s also nice is that they create a community of musicians so that the knowledge and experience of playing music can be shared.

 

Suchita | What plans for the future? You spoke of studying music again- are you keen on taking it up professionally?

Jayant | Future plans! I’m pursuing music professionally, but I do have plans of going to a music school next year to study more and then come back to Delhi to play. I want to play live music!

Rohit | Yes, I am going to take up music professionally. I am planning to go to a school and do a bachelors in music.

The post Their World of Music appeared first on Little Black Book, Delhi.