Provoking Epiphanies in Rajasthan – an August musical mastery exchange for Muse-driven artists, media mavens and adventurous aesthetic connoisseurs

2. MUSIC EXCHANGE 2017: PROVOKING EPIPHANIES
– AUGUST 5 TO SEPTEMBER 3, 2017 –
THE INVITATION
 Visit Udaipur, Rajasthan during the lush, cool & indigenous culture-dense August monsoon season.
 Meet artists from six iconic music communities willing to share their traditions, skills and stories.
 Work with local masters to mutually enrich your expressive techniques and musical knowledge.
 Help co-create 2 final concerts, a film of your journey and Rajasthan’s first global music center.
Our 2017 Music Exchange will introduce you to Sufi, neo-Sufi, Kalbelia, Manganiar, Rajasthani folk and
classical masters. Meet virtuosos on sarod, sitar, sarangi, santoor, bansuri, been, algoja, violin,
ravanhatta, morchang and a wild diversity of drums. Bring your favorite instrument(s) to share
your own work and passions.
THE FOUR-WEEK COURSE
First week: Orientation in local traditions & their cultural history; meeting virtuoso groups from six different musical
communities; introducing your own arts & passions; discussing what musicians’ lives are like here & in your home countries;
and finally selection of collaboration partner(s);
Second week: Afternoon/eve collaboration sessions with chosen local partner(s) to share skills/styles/compositions, jam and
co-create original pieces. Day trips available for Gavari rituals, craft village visits, sightseeing, yoga, etc.
Third week: 5-day trip to visit famed Ajmer Sharif Dargah Sufi music community, Pushkar percussion masters, Jaisalmer folk
artists (plus a camel safari), and a little known village of 300 Kalbelia musician families near Jodhpur.
Fourth week: Reconvening with Udaipur partner(s) to refine ideas for final performances – a fundraising concert to build a
unique music residency centre and a free community gig to introduce all our artists & their joint creations.

3. THE SETTING – Udaipur in August: Fertility, Heritage Treasures & Sacred Indigenous Theatre
The monsoon usually lasts from late
July to early September and averages
an hour or two of rain every other day.
Breezes are cool, the landscape
luxuriant, the skies dramatic and the
lakes crystal clear. And everywhere
rural & towns folk are elated knowing
the fields are all fertile for another year.
Udaipur is also an ancient art heritage
hub with thousands of artists working
in many fields. Its sprawling Shilpgram
folk art village hosts India’s largest
folk festivals, has a 4000-seat public
amphitheatre and has kindly offered us
whatever studio & performance space
we need for music exchange activities.
And August/September are the season
of Gavari. Mewar’s ecstatic tribal folk
operas when dozens of different Bhil
tribe villages send out troupes to
perform sacred dance dramas across
the region for 40 days. Each day’s rites
last 6~8 hours starting with goddess
invocations & possession and ending
with historic, mythic & satirical plays.

4. OUR MUSIC EXCHANGE FIELD TESTING – 2015~2017
Opera/gospel artist & NPR global music host Dr. Jonathan Overby Udaipur sarod master Bhargav Mistry co-creates original
shares spiritual rhythms with enthused Kalbelia group melodies with Ukrainian flamenco prodigy Eugen Sedko
Overby: “The range of skills here is extraordinary as is their warmth and enthusiasm.”
Sedko: “Their improvisational spirit runs so deep they seem to be ready for anything.”
Vijay Dhandla on folk sarangi, Wassim Khan on tabla, Dinesh Baul on flute, and Vanaver Caravan
co-founder Bill Vanaver on banjo searching (and soon finding) a common groove.
Vanaver: “This is our fourth trip to Udaipur and each one is more surprising and delightful.”

5. Club Foot Orchestra founder Richard Marriott jams with Japanese Taiko sensation Leonard Eto swaps riffs with Nagara
been master Sheru Sapera & his Roots of Gypsy ensemble legend Ganshyam Goto Solanki & percussionpoet Neeraj Mistry
Marriott: “Whether I played trombone, flute or shakuhachi, they always welcomed me like a brother.”
Eto: “Where you’re from doesn’t matter. They speak percussion so fluently here in so many different dialects.”
SPECIAL TOUR SIDELIGHTS
Mewar’s Sacred Gavari Season Jaisalmer Desert Safari Trek

6. EXCHANGE SUMMARY & APPLICATION DETAILS
For more information, please visit mewar-mastery.blogspot.in
TIMING: August 5th to September 3rd, 2017
LOCATIONS: Udaipur, Rajasthan area: 22 days; Ajmer, Pushkar, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur journey: 6 days
PARTICIPATION FEE: US$3,500 for food, single room lodging, transport:everythingbut air fare & visas
SIZE LIMIT: 12 members max – ideally 9~10 musicians and 2~3 related professionals
(e.g., ethnomusicologists, filmmakers, media artists, etc.)
TO APPLY: please send your application. work samples/links & CVs to: mastery-exchange@bigmed.org
APPLICATION PERIOD: April 15 to July 1, 2017 RESPONSE TIME: 10 days after application receipt.
ORGANIZERS: Big Medicine Charitable Trust’s Udaipur Shakti Works team, originator of Udaipur’s Shakti Sunday
Eco-Festivals, Indo-Japan Creative Econ Exchanges, Rediscovering Gavari, etc.
ALLIED PARTNERS: West Zone Culture Centre, Shakti Caravan and Sayari Roots of Gypsy
TRANSLATION: English/Hindi/locallanguage translation will be available for all exchange gatherings, including
individual translators for each collaborative music group. (Inquire for other languages.)
DOCUMENTATION: Many practice sessions, travel moments & all performances will be recorded professionally to
create a commemorativedoc & promotional media to generate support & scholarship funds for future exchanges.
UDAIPUR SHAKTI WORKS
1 Sajjangarh Rd, Azad Nagar, Udaipur,
Mewar, Rajasthan, India 313001
PHONE INQUIRIES: +91-869-684-0315