One of the living legends and a doyen of traditional Indian music spectrum, Ustad Zakir Hussain, a percussion virtuoso, is coming to New Zealand this month to perform in two musical concerts at Christchurch and in Auckland. Ustad Zakir Hussain’s name is synonyms with Tabla, a music instrument that he has been playing for past 61 years from the tender age of 12. In a candid chat, exclusive with The Indian News, the avid coffee lover Ustad Zakir Hussain said he is looking forward to his visit to New Zealand and the first thing he will do after reaching here will be ordering a ‘flat white’ coffee.
Ustad Zakir Hussain’s TRIVENI concert in New Zealand is being organised by Society for Performing Arts with support from Indian High Commission and Bhoomija (India). The concerts will be held at Christchurch on 27 June and in Auckland on 29 June and lovers of Indian classical music are looking forward to witness this once in a life time opportunity. Ustad Zakir Hussain is being accompanied by two very acclaimed and renowned musical greats, violinist Kala Ramnath and Sarswati veena player Jayanthi Kumaresh, whose association together has been aptly named TRIVENI. Those who are not familiar with word TRIVENI, this term is used for a legendry mystical site of confluence of three sacred Indian rivers of Ganga, Yamuna and Sarswati that meet at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh in India. This trio of the great musical performers is creating waves across the globe with their unparalleled show of remarkable talents.
Ustad Zakir Hussian, who is now a globe trotter and lives in California was born in Mumbai, India in 1951. He has been acclaimed as the most influential Tabla player in the world and is considered to be the chief architect of contemporary world music on the planet. Ustad Zakir Hussain’s father Ustad Alla Rakha Khan was a great Tabla player himself, so young Zakir was raised in a very traditional and discipline musical environment. Talking to The Indian News, Ustad said his musical journey started from the age of 12 and he would travel across the country with his mother to perform. He was surrounded by musical greats who used to come to his house, and he started learning Tabla from an early age of four. His training sessions would start as early as 3 o’clock in the morning and he would go through this rigorous routine every day. Zakir Hussain says he feels fortunate and proud to have been brought up in a multicultural environment and learning to respect different beliefs and faiths. Ustad Zakir Hussain shot to fame at the age of 19 when he replaced his father to perform on stage with another legend and the famous sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar.

One of the two acclaimed musicians accompanying Zakir Hussain, Kala Ramnath is trained in Carnatic traditions of southern India and learnt music from legendry Indian vocalist Pandit Jasraj. Kala Ramnath has performed at the prominent world stages like Sydney Opera House, Theatere de la Ville in Paris,Carnegie Hall in New York, Rudolstadt Festival in Germnay and Ediburgh Music Festival in Scotland. She has collaborated with the London Symphony and London Philharmonic orchestras and several more.
The third member of TRIVENI, Jayanti Kumaresh, for last 35 years has taken the oldest classical musical instrument from India to all over the world. She is the master of playing Sarswati veena, a string instrument of Carnatic music. Jayanti Kumaresh has also performed at most top world stages like the other two and is best known for her works in 45 Ragas, her solo show on a single instrument that is performed live non-stop for 124 minute.
The co-founder of Society for Performing Arts, NZ, Suruchi Vengurlekar, says TRIVENI concerts will give music lovers in New Zealand an opportunity to enjoy India’s classical music traditions.

Suruchi says SPANZ is trying to bring the brilliance of these maestros in unison for the classical music lovers of Christchurch and Auckland and to give them a chance to learn more about India’s classical music history. Suruchi says, ‘with a vision to showcase the beauty of this musical heritage, we aim to introduce Ustad Zakir Hussain, a global ambassador of Indian classical music, to New Zealand audiences.” For more details about the chat with Ustad Zakir Hussian please visit www.indiannews.nz –Yugal Parashar