PUTNEY — Next Stage Arts presents the Hindustani- and Carnatic-influenced New Age music of Priya Darshini, and the Argentinian Chamamé of the Alejandro Brittes Quartet, on Friday, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m., at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill.
"A double bill of world music from vastly different traditions gives our community perspective to the range and depths of world cultures," Keith Marks, executive director of Next Stage Arts, said in a news release. "Priya represents a flavor of Asian culture, while Alejandro brings a South American style. The two complement one another in that they help our Southern Vermont community become aware of diverse musical traditions."
Born in Chennai, raised in Mumbai, India, and based in New York, Darshini's distinct style takes inspiration from her diverse cultural and life experiences.
As John Schafer of WNYC remarks, her music "incorporates a world of influences and lives on the periphery, much like herself."
In 2020, Darshini released her debut solo album, Periphery, on Chesky Records and was nominated for a Grammy for Best New Age Album. The album, inspired from her own experiences as an immigrant, was written for those feeling isolated and on the outside. It was recorded live on one microphone in a vacant church in Brooklyn.
Chamamé - just like tango - is a musical tradition that has been declared as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Argentine accordionist, composer, and researcher Brittes, who is touring in the U.S. this September and October, has been declared one of the foremost contemporary Chamamé ambassadors and innovators.
Born of the centuries-long interaction between ritual practices of indigenous Guaraní and the Baroque music influences brought by Jesuits in the Mission period (16th to 18th Centuries), Chamamé seeks to communicate with the Earth and the Universe and maintain harmony among humans, through music and dance that leads participants to moments of trance. Often this ecstasy is viscerally expressed by participants through a sapucay, a piercing, spontaneous ancestral yell to release strong emotions pent up inside.
Chamamé, also described as a "danced prayer," is performed in 6/8 time, a meter widely used in diverse human societies to enter into trance and communication with the Universe.
The Quartet is composed of Brittes (accordion), André Ely (7-stringed guitar), Charlise Bandeira (flute), and Carlos de Césaro (contrabass).
Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, and $10 for access to a livestream of the concert. Next Stage will provide a cash bar. Advance tickets are available at nextstagearts.org.
This The Arts item was submitted to The Commons.