A Hundred Strings à Oxford : deux cordes, une pulsation

A Hundred Strings is KalaSudha's tour of sitar, santoor and tabla. The name comes from the santoor, the hundred-stringed instrument of Kashmir.

The tour brings the sitar player Adnan Khan and the santoor player Vinay Desai together with the tabla player Ustad Akram Khan. In Manchester, Ustad Shahbaz Hussain also plays tabla. The sitar is plucked and slides between notes; the santoor is struck and cannot slide, so it moves in runs.

The tour plays Oxford, Manchester, Bournemouth and London.

To reach the Holywell Music Room, head for Holywell Street in Oxford city centre, postcode OX1 3SB. The room is part of Wadham College, which lists it at https://events.wadham.ox.ac.uk/holywell-music-room. If you need parking or step-free access, write to [email protected] before you book, or read who to talk to about access needs. To book a seat, see how to find and book KalaSudha concerts in Oxford.

The Holywell Music Room has a ramped main entrance on a loose gravel path, level access to the auditorium and one accessible toilet, according to the Oxford University AccessGuide.

Wheelchair spaces and hearing-loop provision are limited. If you need either, or have other access needs, contact KalaSudha before you book.

KalaSudha presents Indian classical music in Oxford at the Holywell Music Room on Holywell Street, part of Wadham College. The room dates from 1748, and Wadham calls it "the oldest custom-built concert hall in Europe".

The KalaSudha Oxford page lists each Oxford concert with its Book Tickets button; press Register for updates there to hear about new dates. For directions, see getting to the Holywell Music Room.

KalaSudha has presented Oxford Raga Unison at the Holywell Music Room.

Adnan Khan is a Grammy-nominated sitar player from Delhi who works in the gayaki ang, the approach that shapes the instrument after the singing voice. He took his first lessons from his maternal grandfather, the late Zafar Ahmed Khan, and trains with his father, the sitar player Saeed Khan. His uncle, the khayal singer Mashkoor Ali Khan, taught him the gayaki ang at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata. Melody leads in his playing, and a raga's notes keep their shape through his fastest runs.

Vinay Desai plays the santoor, the hundred-stringed instrument of Kashmir, struck with two light curved mallets. He studied with Shivkumar Sharma, who received the Padma Vibhushan, through Sharma's final years. A struck string cannot bend, so his expression comes from where the strokes fall and how they are spaced. His concerts open slow, with no beat at all, until the raga has a shape. Then the tabla comes in, and the close is fast.

The sitar is plucked and slides between notes. The santoor is struck and cannot slide, so it moves in runs and repeated strokes.

The sitar is a long-necked lute with a gourd body, movable curved frets and sympathetic strings beneath the playing strings. The santoor is the hundred-stringed instrument of Kashmir: a flat wooden box strung with metal strings, struck with a pair of light wooden mallets.

On the sitar you hear a phrase held and bent, the way a singer does. On the santoor each note rings on after the hand has moved. See what is a sitar and what is a santoor.

The Ajrara gharana, also spelt Ajrada, is a school of tabla that arose in the late 18th or early 19th century in the village of Ajrara, in Meerut district. Most accounts trace it to two brothers, Kallu Khan and Miru Khan, who learnt in Delhi, making it an offshoot of the Delhi gharana. Its players add the ring finger to the Delhi technique. It is best known for qaidas, themes with set variations, in aad laya, three strokes to every two beats. Ustad Akram Khan plays in the gharana today.

Votre e-mail de confirmation contient le billet. Présentez-le sur votre téléphone à l'entrée de la salle, ou apportez une version imprimée si vous préférez le papier.

Si l'e-mail n'est pas arrivé, vérifiez d'abord votre dossier de courrier indésirable. S'il reste introuvable, écrivez-nous à [email protected] et nous vous le renverrons.

Arrive at the door time shown on the KalaSudha event page. Doors open before the music starts, so you can find a seat and settle before the first note. All times are UK local time.

When the programme opens with a raga, the first section is the alap, the slow, free-tempo opening of the raga. Arriving after the start time means walking in during it.

For seating, see Is seating allocated? If this is your first Indian classical concert, read what to expect as a newcomer.