Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door and $12 for students with ID.
The nonprofit Indian Classical Music Circle of Hawaii presents world-class musicians Parashuram Bhandari on sarangi and Homnath Upadhyaya on tabla drums at the Honokaa People’s Theatre at 7 p.m. on Saturday and at 3 p.m. on Sunday at the East Hawaii Cultural Center in Hilo.
Bhandari is a Nepali master of the sarangi, an ancient form of the violin with 39 strings. His music ranges from the wildly exuberant to the hauntingly delicate, presented with the rhythmic power that is his signature.
Born in Nepal and educated in India, Upadhyaya is a master teacher, performer and scholar of the tabla. Both a sensitive accompanist and a dynamic soloist, Upadhyaya has played tabla for more than 40 years.
They will be accompanied by Babette Ackin on tanpura.
Bhandari opens the concert on sarangi with a fully improvised solo lasting nearly 20 minutes. He then develops the composition as Upadhyaya joins in on tabla adding rhythm in a 7, 10, 12 or other beat cycle. They next alternate solos, a kind of conversation between the instruments in a 16-beat cycle, becoming faster and faster until it peaks. A semi-classical piece follows, concluding with traditional folk tunes and some Nepalaccia (Nepal/Appalaccia) mountain music fusion.
Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door and $12 for students with ID.