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 Author: Jodi Hewat
 The Kalavant Center should be commended for presenting an
entertaining concert on May 20th much enjoyed by the large and diverse crowd
taking advantage of the fine weather Saturday afternoon in Union Square Park
(New York). The Center chose to feature the talents of its students for this
performance and in doing so, emphasized its commitment in promoting and
preserving traditional music and dance of South Asia, particularly the classical
traditions of India. Students ranging in age from 7 to 70 performed alongside
their instructors in an engaging musical exchange.
The show began with young sitar students Anise Rau, 8, and Nikita Rau, 10,
who performed with delicacy and maturity surprising for only eight months of
instruction.
Following the girls was Aruna Kadayan who presented three ghazals accompanied
by Ustad Kadar Khan, founding director of Kalavant Center, on tabla and Kalavant
instructor Rafiq Khan on harmonium. Ms. Kadayan captivated the audience with her
charming voice and musical fluency.
Next, advanced sitar students Sanjay Kumar, Kevin Dunham and Stergios
Athanassoglou, skillfully performed a complex raga with their instructor Bina
Kalavant. An accomplished tabla student, Jason Rinker, then took the stage to
accompany musicians and Kalavant instructors, Javed Khan on sitar, Imran Khan on
tabla and Rafiq Khan on sarangi.
Subsequently, tabla student Hans Taparia adeptly accompanied Bina Kalavant
and Rafiq Khan for an elegant performance of Puriya dhanashri raga followed by
tabla student Richard Haynes who accompanied sitarist Javed Khan with
sensitivity.
The rousing final item, a tabla trio with Ustad Kadar Khan, Imran Khan and
7-year-old tabla student Jude Fernandez, delighted the audience as much for the
energy and virtuosity of Ustad Khan as for the prodigious talent of young Mr.
Fernandez. Sitar student Nita Yawanarajah was a polished emcee and sound for the
concert was skillfully managed by tabla student Tim Klemt.
Nathan Waxman, a legal advisor to the Kalavant Center, referenced Union Square
Park's historical significance as a meeting place where New Yorkers from
disparate backgrounds have long united in common causes, whether political or
cultural, to note that the park was a perfect venue to promote the Center's
mission, and judging by the diversity in age and cultures of the Center's
students as well as the audience who attended the event, the Kalavant Center is
admirably achieving its goals.
The Kalavant Center is located at 326
East 11th Street, Suite #2, New York, NY 10003.
Tel: 212-475-234.
Photo caption: Ustad Kadar Khan and his student Jude Fernandez. Photographer:
Himanshu Jain
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