Indian music concert aims to raise funds, celebrate diverse sounds this weekend

Mandawuy Yunupingu, founder of the Aboriginal music group, Yothu Yindi, once said that "music is a universal language without prejudice." \nIU's Association for India's Development intends to prove him correct when the organization presents "Maithreem: An Indian Music Concert" at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. \nThe association is a national organization that supports charitable projects in India. Bloomington chapter President Giri Krishnan, a graduate student at IU, calls the group "socially responsible" in its funding of literacy, healthcare and human rights initiatives in India.\nCurrently, the chapter is working on a project to finance a small school in northern India. Through community fundraising and contributions, the association is able to endow the school with the funds necessary to pay teachers' salaries and to provide study materials for the students. \n"Maithreem" is a Sanskrit word meaning "friendship," and the concert itself is meant as a gesture of friendship. Although the concert is free and open to the public, donations will be accepted to fund some of the organization's charitable activities. In addition, the concert signifies friendship toward the Bloomington community, which will have the chance to hear an entirely different genre of music than the western classical and pop music that dominate the local music scene. \nRama Cousik, a doctoral student who is an active member of the association, explained that both traditional and modern Indian music use the same seven-note music scale as Western music. However, the way in which the notes are arranged is completely different because Indian music does not have true chord progressions. \n"Western music is harmonic, whereas Indian music is melodic," she said. \nThe repertoire that will be showcased at the concert contains a wide variety of pieces that trace the development of a uniquely Indian sound from ancient times until the contemporary music scene. In addition, the concert will showcase different musical styles of chants, devotionals, folk songs and popular music from the many regions of India. \nA country with more than a billion inhabitants, India is home to people of a wide range of cultures, and as Cousik explained, "Indian music is as diverse as the people in India."\nThe concert will feature both vocal and instrumental music. Most of the performers in Saturday night's showcase are IU master's and doctoral students, but a few musicians and singers will be joining the organization from places as far away as Atlanta.\nMany of the instruments in the performance may seem unfamiliar to the audience, as they are exclusively Indian. Despite their uniquely Eastern sound, their functional concepts are similar to those of the West. The wide spectrum of indigenous Indian instruments includes the bansuri (flute), nagaswaram, shehnai (wind instruments), mridangam, tabla, thavil (percussion), vina and sitar (string).\nHowever, Indian music has undergone some changes in its recent exposure to Western styles. According to an e-mail from Sheetal Narayanan, a graduate student who serves as treasurer of AID, said recent Indian music has drawn from international influences.\n"Western instruments such as the harmonium and the violin have been adapted to Indian music and are an essential part of classical Indian music concerts now," Narayanan said.\nFor more information, e-mail AID at aid@indiana.edu.