Students' Concert
India Abroad
By Aziz Haniffa
November 24, 2006

Students aged between 6 and 65, wowed a crowd of 300 at the Mclean, Virginia-based Balaji Music Academy's annual musical recital, held last month at the Ernest Cultural Center of the Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia.

Kalpana Sen, wife of India's Ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen and the chief guest at the event, said she could not believe "such talent exists in this area." She lauded Vatsala Mehra, the Academy's founder and director, for "nurturing this talent and over such a range, which clearly shows the versatality of the students and their love for Indian music."

The performances ranged from Chotha Khayal in Raag Khamaj and Raag Tilang to bhajans and popular Bollywood hits. The star of the evening was clearly Anjali Taneja, who had earlier figured in the Aap Ka Saroor concert featuring top Bollywood composer Himesh Reshammiya.

"I was so thrilled by the performances by the students who were simply excellent, and the majority of the students were born and raised in the United states, and do not know how to read or write Hindi," Mehra said.

The extra effort, especially how the younger performers sang with perfect diction when performing the classical gayaki made her proud, she said.

"My experience is that Indians in India are out of touch with classical music, in contrast to Indian Americans who have this hunger for classical music. Some of our students have learned over 25 raagas. This shows you their dedication and commitment."

The Balaji Music Academy is the Washington area's premier music institution for classical Indian music and offers classes in Indian classical vocal music, ghazals, bhajans, and Bollywood pop.

Several of the Academy's singers, regularly perform at area events and also at the Diwali receptions that Ambassador Sen and his predecessor Lalit Mansing have hosted.

The Academy is unique in that it teaches students on a one-to-one basis.

Mehra, a ghazal artist who has performed all over the world, including at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, received her formal training from Ustad Momin Ali Khan of the Lucknow gharana and released her first album, Guftgu, in 1980.

She followed that up with Shamakhan in 1981, Khazana I and Khazana II in 1982 and 1983 respectively, Nigahen in 1984, Hasrat in 1985, and Nasheeli Peshkash and two pop albums - Ole Ole and Jhoom Jhoom. Atlantic Video released the Nighahen video in 1992 and her other ghazal releases include Shokian in 1993, Gubar in 1996, Meri Jaan in 1999, and Live at the Kennedy Center in 2006.

Besides being the first Indian woman ghazal singer to have released a ghazal video, Nigahen, she has also won the Best International Woman Ghazal Singer award, and has received several honors from the Indian government for her contributions to projecting India's classical music traditions in the US and several world capitals.