She will give a lecture, “Today is Your Wedding Day, Qasim: The Gendered Voice of the Shi’a Moharram Laments,” on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. in McCormick Center, room 2303. On Thursday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. she will present a concert, “An Evening of Thumri Music,” in Kehr Union, Ballroom.
The concert will feature Rao on vocals, Samir Chatterjee on tabla and Rajyasree Ghosh on harmonium. Both events are free and open to the public. Rao is a performer of thumri-dadra, Indian classical music, and ghazal, a form of Persian and Indian poetry closely linked to Sufism. A disciple of the legendary singer, the late Vidushi Naina Deve, Rao has performed at national and international forums. She conducts lectures, workshops and lecture demonstrations, and sings and composes for dance, film and theatre. While researching and writing extensively on the performing arts and music, she focuses most of her attention toward musical form and gender.
Chatterjee, of India, is an expert tabla player. Traveling worldwide, he has performed in many festivals, both collaboratively and as a soloist, including the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway in 2007 and at the United Nations General Assembly. He has played with artists including Pauline Oliveros, William Parker, Branford Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Dave Douglas, Steve Gorn and Glen Velez.
Ghosh, a trained musician and vocalist of Indian classical music, has performed and been featured regularly on India’s national television and radio. She holds the position of lecturer at Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata.
The program is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Center for Diversity and Inclusion, Institute for Culture and Society, International Faculty Association, Global Awareness Society International and Department of History. For information, contact M. Safa Saraçoğlu, associate professor of history, at msaracog@bloomu.edu.
