The Gift of Music: WEDDING ALBUM

Pt. Bhimsen Joshi

Music has been an integral part of every one of Bay Area Drama Company's productions. 

From our very first outing, Bhopal, which featured live music composed and performed onstage by Vidushi Subhapriya Srivatsan to A Doll's House, in which Aalaap Desai set Shekhar Hemnani's lyrics to haunting effect in Koi Nazm Nahin sung by our very own Sindu Singh, to Dance Like a Man, in which we were privileged to have well known bay area flautist Sri Mohan Govindaraj collaborate in original compositions with the Smt. Subhapriya Srivatsan, to Domestic Crusaders, during which the musical interludes comprised of sufi songs rendered by famed Pakistani musicians.

The musical gift of our current production, Wedding Album is that the play is set in Dharwad, Karnataka, the birthplace of some of the greatest Hindustani classical legends the country has seen. Luminaries of the Kirana Gharana such as Pt. Basavaraj Rajguru, Pt. Mallikarjun Mansur, Vidushi Gangubai Hangal, and Bharat Ratna Pt. Bhimsen Joshi have risen from the musically rich soil of the Hubli-Dharwad region in Uttara Karnataka. Even the legendary vocalist Pt. Kumar Gandharva originated from here, though he later chose to settle in Madhya Pradesh for health reasons. There is a great bounty of beautifully preserved recordings from these stalwarts and the integration of these is sure to be an immersive, transformative experience for our audiences.