89. Music and South Asia (with South Asian Symphony Foundation)

Ambassador Nirupama Menon Rao speaks to artists and scholars Ahmad Naser Sarmast, Neil Nongkynrih and Ravibandhu Vidyapathi about how a South Asian identity can be expressed through music.

This is a follow-up to Episode 86 of BIC Talks, and an edited version a live online event hosted by the South Asian Symphony Foundation. The foundation’s co-founder Ambassador Menon Rao spoke to five artistes from across South Asia, and three of them are featured on this episode. The full event can be accessed on the SASF YouTube channel.

Ahmad Naser Sarmast is an Afghan-Australian ethnomusicologist. He is the founder and director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music.

Neil Nongkynrih is a concert pianist and founder, mentor, and conductor of Shillong Chamber Choir. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2015.

Ravibandhu Vidyapathy is a dancer, veteran choreographer and musician from Sri Lanka. An acclaimed classical Kandyan dancer, Kathakali actor-dancer, trained in Hindustani music, his work today spans through a wide range of styles such as traditional choreographies, full-length ballets of linear narrative style, contemporary dance pieces and short ballets of thematic & abstract styles.

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