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Sajda-e-Sufi: An Evening of Bhakti and Sufi Music
February 23, 2020 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
The Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions (CHiTra) presents
Sajda e Sufi: An Evening of Bhakti and Sufi Music
By
Dr. Shiwani Arora and Dr. Saloni Taneja
Accompanying Musicians:
Rajesh Bhandari (Tabla); Shawn Bhajman (Keyboard); Zaeem Usmani (Percussion); Tanmaya Mishra (Guitar), Shashank Mayekar, Srivalli Boddupalli, Vaasuki Marupaka, and Vaibhav Sahay (Vocal Support)
- Music Building 101; 435 Newell Drive, University of Florida
- Sunday, February 23, 2020
Time:
- Tea and Social: 5:30 PM-6:00 PM ,
- Music Concert: 6:00 PM-7:30 PM
Free admission but since seating is limited, we encourage you to RSVP to the following address: YESpleaseRSVP@gmail.com
About the artists:
Dr. Shiwani Arora
Shiwani Arora is the President and CEO of Patient First Health System, LLC which offers diagnostic services for various cancers using Flow Cytometry and worked at UF as a Research Scientist for 10 years in the past in the Department of Medicine.
Dr. Arora learned Hindustani Classical music from Smt. Vaijayanthi Gopinath in USA and Semi-Classical Hindustani music from Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan and Shree Chatursen Ji in New Delhi, India. She particularly enjoys singing Ghazals, Thumari, Sufi Music, and Bhajans. Dr. Arora’s life-long passion has been Ghazal singing which has been admired and recognized both in India and USA. Dr. Arora is an active member of many local music groups including Sargam, Ocala Karaoke and Gainesville Karaoke. She has been teaching Indian music and culture to young children for the last 25 years in Gainesville, FL.
Dr. Saloni Taneja
Saloni Taneja is a clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the University of Florida. She comes from a family of artists, playwrights, and musicians well known in the Delhi theatre circles and has been singing ever since she can remember. She learned music from her family, especially her mother and her aunt and imbibed ghazals, Punjabi folk music, and Sufi poetry from a very young age. Saloni has been performing theatre since infancy, and has composed music for many plays, following the big footsteps of her family. Dr. Taneja says that singing gives her immense happiness and contentment and takes her to a land that knows no bounds, much like the Sufis who lose themselves in their love for their Beloved.
Musicians performing with Drs. Arora and Taneja:
Rajesh Bhandari is a disciple of the renowned maestro, Zakir Hussain. He has spent over thirty years studying Indian music, especially the tabla and other percussion instruments. He has performed for over twenty five years in many parts of the world with many notable musicians like Zakir Hussain, Suresh Wadkar, Shakira, Lakshmi Shankar, Falu, Nirmalya Roy, Irshad Khan, Utsav Lal, Alap Desai, Nirmal Udhas, Raga Boyz, and Asad Abbas.
Shawn Bhajman has been a keyboard player, guitarist, and sound engineer for over thirty years. He has performed with many artists from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, including Bankim Pathak, Samir Date, Jolly Mukherjee, Nirmalya Roy, Raga Boyz, and Asad Abbas in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean.
Zaeem Usmani has had over twenty years of experience as a performer of acoustic and electronic drums. He has performed with well-known musicians like Asad Abbas, Raga Boyz, and Khalid Baig in India, Pakistan, and the US.
Drs. Arora and Taneja will also be accompanied by the following UF students:
Guitar: Tanmaya Mishra
Vocal support: Shashank Mayekar, Srivalli Boddupalli, Vaasuki Marupaka, and Vaibhav Sahay
We gratefully acknowledge the support of SPICMACAY- UF and the School of Music