2-Weeks Workshop on
Appreciating Qawwali and Sufi Music
October 3, 2009 - October 11, 2009

Tentative schedule available so far

Originally this was planned as a 4-weeks workshop spanning the entire month of October 2009. But following popular requests, 4 weeks have been compressed to two weeks using the weekends. The following schedule, themes and their sequence is tentative. But the dates and timings are more or less fixed, except the date of Urs ritual which would be confirmed later (based on lunar calendar). The final schedule would also reflect the names of the persons conducting each of these sessions and the exact location of the lectures.

Kindly note that the traditional Urs (death anniversary) of poet Amir Khusrau is to be held at the shrine in the first week of October, which itself would be full of many occasions of good qawwali performances in and around the dargah, by artists from Delhi as well as outside. Those attending this workshop would be encouraged to visit the shrine and spend some time in these qawwali sessions which happen during the day, the evenings and even overnight during this time.

Day One: 3 Oct.2009, Saturday:
11 am - Introduction: Basics of Sufi Sama: Chishti Order and music (by Dhruv Sangari, Yousuf Saeed)
2 pm - Punjab's mystic traditions and Sufi music (by Prof. Madan Gopal Singh)
4 pm - Documentary films and discussion on Indian Sufism

Day Two: 4 Oct. Sunday:
11 am - Urdu and Persian poetry in Indian mysticism
2 pm - Experiencing Sufi - meeting with a Sufi teacher
4 pm - Appreciating Kabir and Bhakti poets in performance (by Atmaram Bhakal)

Day Three: 7 Oct. Wednesday: (optional and tentative)
9:30am - Observing a ritual of Urs (a heritage walk to Chilla of Nizamuddin)
Entire day: Qawwalis at the main shrine of Nizamuddin

Day Four: 10 Oct. Saturday:
11 am - Heritage of Amir Khusrau: Session with a Qawwal (M.A.Warsi)
2 pm - Sufi Music outside India: Listening and video session (Yousuf Saeed, Dhruv Sangari)
4 pm - Practicing Sufi chanting and music (involving participants)

Day Five: 11 Oct. Sunday:
11 am - Qawwali in Pakistan and India - styles and repertoire (Sudev Seth)
2 pm - Hindustani classical music and Sufi themes
4 pm - Concluding lecture, with film on Amir Khusrau, Basant and others (Yousuf Saeed)

Kindly visit this page again to see the finalized schedule with more details.

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