McEachern Auditorium

2700 24th Ave E

Seattle

October 13, 2007, Saturday 8:30 PM - 10:30 PM

Buy Tickets online: $10.00 Members, $25.00 Non-members, FREE for Children 7 & Under

LAKSHMI SHANKAR

Smt. Lakshmi Shankar is one of India's most renowned vocalists whose unique background encompasses both the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions. As a young girl she fell under the spell of dance and, encouraged by her forward-thinking mother, she studied Bharatanatyam dancing under the tutelage of guru Kandappa. She married the scriptwriter Rajendra Shankar, an elder brother of Ravi Shankar, and joined Uday Shankar’s artistic circle during the early 1940s. Ill-health forced her to give up dancing but, for us, this had the joyful effect of catalyzing her singing career. She received vocal training from Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan of the Patiala Gharana. She continued studies under musicologist and singer B. R. Deodhar and Pandit Ravi Shankar. Her recordings of khayal, thumri, and bhajans have received acclaim in Europe, the U.S., and India. Critics, in East and West alike, are unstinting in their praise of this fine artist.

Around 1946 to 1947, she worked on the historic adaptation of Pandit Nehru's Discovery of India, a work that prompted Nehru to say, "The ballet's better than my book." In the 1960s she recorded an album called "The Voice of Lakshmi Shankar" for World Pacific.

Since then she has recorded widely in varying capacities and styles including Tamil folk songs, Hindu devotional songs of all sorts, film work, and for television documentaries. She is an active concert artist, performing in major music festivals on three continents and beyond. Her voice can be heard on the Academy Award-winning film “Gandhi”. Her work appears on many labels including EMI India and RCA.

In her Utsav 2007 performance, Smt. Lakshmi Shankar will be accompanied on the harmonium by Kedar Naphade and on the tabla by Abhinay Padhye.