The first in a unique series of Indian music concerts took place at St Mary de Castro Church on Wednesday 5 April.
Mesmerising sounds from Northern India filled the venue while Harjinderpal Matharu and Shahbaz Hussain played a range of classical instruments.
Organised by De Montfort University and in partnership with the Darbar Festival, an Indian classical music festival that takes place in London, the concert was part of DMU’s #loveinternational campaign.
During the lunchtime event, Harjinderpal played the santoor, a string musical instrument made of walnut with seventy-two strings while Shahbaz played the tabla, a percussion instrument consisting of two separate drums.
Following the concert, the performers answered questions from guests led by Chris Heighton, DMU Head of Music Development.
Harjinderpal said: “In Indian classical music, we improvise a lot whilst maintaining the rules of the genre.
“The different melodies we play suit the time of day, for example the feeling you get from seeing a sunset, is very different to that of a sunrise.
“Performing at this time of the day presents its own melody and quite often we won’t know what we are going to perform and how until we’re used to the surroundings and the audience we are performing for.”
Shahbaz explained: “The music we’ve played today is a shortened version due to the limited time we have, but each instrumental piece of music can last hours.
“It is a form of meditation, once you get into the music it’s like you’re not even playing it.”
The next concert will take place in Trinity Chapel on Wednesday 7 June at 1pm with Roopa Panesar who will play the sitar and Sudersan Chan who will use the tabla.
