Next Wednesday, there is an incredible night of poetry and and music at USC. It’s being produced by Neelanjana Banerjee of Kaya Press as part of USC’s Visions & Voices program. It’s kind of mind-blowing how packed this event is with global artists that most of us will never get to see in one line up.
Mehfil Massive: South Asian Religions Remixed Through Poetry and Music
Admission is free. RESERVATIONS REQUIRED! RSVP at the links below beginning Thursday, March 27, at 9 a.m.
USC Students, Staff and Faculty: RSVP here
General Public: RSVP here
Wednesday April 23, 2014 | 7:30 – 9:30 p.m.
Bovard Auditoirum, University of Southern California (3551 Trousdale Parkway Los Angeles, CA 90089)
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Legendary South Asian musicians and poets will come together to celebrate and investigate the rich diversity of South Asian spiritual influences. From ghazals set to music and sung throughout the Muslim world to Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel Prize–winning Gitanjali (Prayer Offering of Song), collaborations between poets and musicians have been a staple of South Asian religious life for centuries. In Mughal courts, nightly mehfils brought these performers together and elevated their collaborations to high art.
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This tradition will get a 21st-century update in a landmark evening featuring performances by internationally renowned diasporic South Asian artists including Sufi-influenced rock guitarist Salman Ahmad, vocalist and ten-string double-violin master Gingger Shankar, Mumbai-based electronic musician Bandish Projekt and hip hop artist and producer Brooklyn Shanti in collaboration with award-winning poets Kazim Ali, Tarfia Faizullah, Bhanu Kapil, Mandeep Sethi and Amarnath Ravva. The evening will be hosted by comedian/writer/performance artist D’Lo.