Source: South Asia Institute, Chicago, 3 April 2021 — “Old Traditions, New Narratives: Reflections in Sound” — https://www.saichicago.org/calendar/old-traditions-new-narratives-reflections-in-sound
In April 2021, with concert halls still closed, the South Asia Institute in Chicago celebrated its exhibition “Old Traditions, New Narratives” with a special virtual concert — and the Hamza Akram Qawwal Ensemble were the closing act.
Hosted by Meera Dugal and presented with the Old Town School of Folk Music as promotional partner, the free event paired a collaboration between Qais Essar on rabab and Kamaljeet Ahluwalia on santoor with a performance by the Hamza Akram Qawwal Ensemble, streamed to audiences at home.
The Institute’s introduction of the ensemble will be familiar to anyone who follows the brothers: grandsons of the revered Munshi Raziuddin, acclaimed for riveting interpretations of qawwali, the ecstatic improvisational Sufi vocal tradition, representing the 26th generation of the seven-centuries-old Qawwal Bachon ka Gharana of Delhi, founded by Saamat bin Ibrahim, the first qawwal of the subcontinent and principal student of mystic Amir Khusrau.
Hamza and his brothers Taimoor and Abdul have studied with the renowned Naseeruddin Saami and with their uncle, Farid Ayaz Qawwal, and have toured globally and performed at many festivals. Their performances build a state of ecstasy through rhythmic handclapping, drumming and powerful vocals, with songs ranging from 13th-century mystical Persian poems to more recent poems in Urdu and Punjabi.
A virtual concert cannot replace a hall — there is no call-and-response with a room full of listeners. But in 2021 it did something else: it carried the tradition into living rooms in Chicago and far beyond, at a moment when live music had stopped almost everywhere. The exhibition’s title, “Old Traditions, New Narratives”, could have been written for the brothers themselves — a seven-century-old lineage, presented through a screen, to a new audience.
This post is a rephrased summary of the South Asia Institute’s event listing for 3 April 2021, shared here for our press archive. Read the original at the link above.
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