In the pristine naturally acoustic environs of Auroville, Ustadji will demonstrate Dhrupad Gayaki and RudraVeena along with two of his accompanists, on Tanpura and Pakhawaj. Ustadji warmly invites musicians and students of all arts to interact with him on conceptual and experiential level. 

For 4 days with 2 sessions each day, Ustadji will perform and then open the floor for dialogue and discussions. Some of the key questions discussed will be: 

-What is a raga? What are the various expressions of a Raga? 

-What are the various traditions of Indian Classical Music? With special focus on Dhrupad, what is the tradition of Dhrupad? 

-In gurukul people are taught for a very long time. Why does it take so long to master Indian classical music? What is the specific tradition / way of teaching in Dhrupad Gurukul?

-What are the micro tones, the minute tonal variations – essential for Dhrupad? How can those be explained? How does one train one’s ear to decipher and distinguish tones?

-How to sense tonal progressions? How certain tones, as they develop, they develop with us certain emotions. How is the emotional movement accentuated in a musical narrative? 

-What is a RudraVeena? What is the history, mythology and specific musicality of Rudraveena? What are the changes that Ustad Zia Moiuddin Dagar made to RudraVeena that completely transformed the music of the instrument?  

-What is silence and how to discover the resonance of a space?

In addition to these, the participants are free to ask whatever they with to understand better.

The Residency will be an involved, interactive and performative musical experience. Practitioners of all arts, specifically the seven arts – painting, architecture, sculpture, literature, music, performing and cinema are welcome to join for an intimate transdisciplinary experiential journey with Ustad Bahauddin Dagar. 

USTAD BAHAUDDIN DAGAR: 

Baha’ud’din Mohiuddin Dagar (born 1970) is the Rudra veena player and son of renowned north Indian musician Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. He plays rudra veena with the dagarbani style. He represents the 20th generation of Dagar lineage, referring to Nayak Haridas Dagar of the 16th century. Ustad Bahauddin is a representative of the eighth generation of Rudra veena players in Dagarbani dhrupad. In 2012, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the highest award for performing artists, conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.

SELECTION PROCESS : 
The selection will be based on the statement on purpose and on donation. All the donations will be used for hosting, hospitality and honorarium for Ustadji and his team. 

We request early applications; as soon as we receive your application, we shall get back, positively within a day, so as to expedite the confirmation process. 

SEATS:
This will be a closed group with just about 25 participants, not more.

ACCOMMODATION :
For a few early birds we can organize accommodation @400/day on a twin or triple sharing basis. 

For those looking for other alternatives or single occupancy accommodation options, please refer to Auroville Guest Accommodation Service. Feel free to reach out to us if you need recommendations based on your budget and other preferences. We’ll gladly assist your bookings.

Mitra Youth Hostel, Serendipity Guest House, Atithi Griha, Center Guest House, Arka Guest House, Creativity Guest House are some of our recommendations. There are many other options available.

TRAVEL GUIDANCE & LOCAL MOBILITY:
Trains directly to Pondicherry are resumed from most parts of India. To Chennai, all trains as well as all flights are fully operational. There are several options of local buses and passenger trains from Chennai to Auroville; it takes about 3-4 hours (approx. 150km). For those preferring to travel by taxi, we recommend Auroville based taxi services as they can pick up from anywhere you are and drop straight to the respective Auroville guest house. Please check Auroville Shared Transport service.

We recommend renting bicycles/ e-cycles/ motorcycles for mobility within Auroville periphery. The Guesthouse may facilitate booking. Standard Rentals are anywhere between Rs. 40 to 150/ day depending on kind of 2-wheeler.

Please visit www.auroville.org for orientation and additional information on Auroville.

CERTIFICATES: 
E-certificates of participation will be given to those who request for it.