Lake District prepares to welcome Indian Maestros

A unique ensemble of highly talented Indian musicians will be the ambassadors of Asian music at this year’s Lake District Summer Music Festival (August 3-19), as Tarang take centre stage at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, on the evening of August 9.

This is the first time Asian music has featured in this critically acclaimed International Festival, recently voted the third best classical music festival in the UK. Tarang's appearance at the Festival follows their participation in LDSM’s inaugural ŒMusic from a Foreign Land, in November 2004, which brought the music and musicians of Asia to the region in what was Cumbria’s first-ever dedicated festival of world music.

Tarang are a group of dynamic, young Indian performers able to make the diverse styles of Indian music an exciting phenomenon crossing all cultural boundaries. Blending Hindustani, Carnatic and contemporary musical forms, they are able to present Indian rhythms to a Western audience in a fabulous manner, bringing the best of classical Indian music and traditional and contemporary South Asian melodies to the table.

The rich sound emerging from a variety of traditional, Indian instruments conveys the culture of India in a unique manner. The ensemble includes players of sitar, saxophone, santoor, bansuri, tabla, veena, mridangam, violin and guitar, as well as excellent vocalists, and prides itself on being able to represent contemporary Indian music rooted in the classical form.

Tarang’s performances manage to balance the serene with the exhilarating and the vibrant with the soulful, offering a classical raga sound and a superb instrumental mastery. Compositions from leading maestros come to life in their hands, as percussion instruments like the tabla and mridangam combine with stringed supremos like the sitar and Western favourites ­ the violin and the guitar ­ to generate a rich blend of cultural and folk-led music.

Renna Kellaway, Artistic Director of LDSM, says: "I am delighted to welcome Tarang back to Cumbria. No Festival can stand still. Although the heart of LDSM remains in rooted in chamber music and the richness of its repertoire, it brings chamber musicians from around the world in well loved, less familiar and new works for many different combinations.

"Broadening the appeal of our event, introducing other exciting musical forms and showcasing other musical talents, in this case from South Asia, opens up a new world of different sounds, colours and techniques. We hope this is a step towards future collaborations in both performance and training of young musicians."

The colourful spectacle of August 9 is preceded by a talk given by members of Tarang, at 6pm, which can be enjoyed for just £3. This will provide a special insight into the composition and performance of Indian music, as individual instruments and sounds are explored and explained.

Tickets for the Tarang performance cost £14 and can be purchased, along with tickets for the talk, from the online shop at Lldsm.org.uk.