A Hundred Strings in Bournemouth: Ragas by the Sea

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.

The Palace Court Theatre is on Hinton Road, Bournemouth BH1 2EN, in the town centre. Its what3words address is steep.turns.keep.

Westover Gardens and Central car parks are within 200 m. The Hinton Road Top bus stop is directly opposite.

The entrance has three steps and a moveable ramp. For access needs, contact us before the day.

Partly. The Palace Court Theatre has three steps from the street to the entrance, with a moveable ramp, and level access from the foyer to the auditorium. There are two wheelchair spaces and seats with extra legroom.

One accessible toilet sits in the foyer. Stairs lead to the other toilets, and the building has no lift.

Tell the venue about access needs in advance, at [email protected], so it can plan evacuation. For a KalaSudha concert, email [email protected] before booking (see who to talk to about access needs).

KalaSudha presents Indian classical music in Bournemouth at the Palace Court Theatre on Hinton Road. The Bournemouth page lists each KalaSudha concert in the town with its Book Tickets button, and you can press Register for updates there to hear about new dates.

The theatre is a 1931 Art Deco playhouse, and Arts University Bournemouth is restoring it. For buses and parking, see getting to the Palace Court Theatre.

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.

When you book on kalasudha.com, your KalaSudha confirmation email carries your ticket. Show it on your phone at the door, or bring a printout if you prefer paper.

If the email has not arrived, check your spam folder first. If it is still missing, write to [email protected] and we will send your ticket again.

Can no longer come? See refunds. Event moved or cancelled? See cancellations and date changes. Planning the night? See when to arrive.

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.