String Theory, a Berlin-based sitar band featuring international musicians, makes its debut in Thiruvananthapuram

It was a dream come true for Berlin-based sitarist Sebastian Dryer when he took the stage with six different sitarists, their roots unfold internationally, to carry out on the Amphitheatre at Goethe-Zentrum Trivandrum in Thiruvananthapuram on February 13. That was the debut live performance of the collective, often called String Theory. The efficiency started with a piece in raag Jog in Deepchandi taal, adopted by compositions in Jhinjoti, Kafi, Puriya Dhanashree, Bhairav, Brindavani Sarang and Darbari Kanada raags.

The string collective from Berlin principally consists of sitarists settled in the German capital — Will Dewar from South Africa, Handong Ryu from South Korea, Anurag Sharma from India, Tina Bartel aka Trilli, Matthias Seidel and Susanne Kretschmann (who couldn’t attend the live performance) from Germany. Aleksandr Konanchuk from Russia, a sitarist with over three a long time of expertise, completes the ensemble. They have been accompanied by Indian exponent Retnasree Iyer on the tabla.

“It started rather pragmatically,” says Sebastian, a school on the Fanny Hense Music School in Berlin. “Except for two members, the others study there. Usually, when you learn Western instruments such as the guitar and the violin, you play them in a band and you have classes with them as an orchestra. This wasn’t the case with sitar. So I thought why not come up with a sitar collective,” says Sebastian. 

Sebastian Dreyer from Germany
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For a number of musicians, their first tryst with the instrument was by means of the long-lasting English rock band, The Beatles. It was because of the band that Aleksandr got here throughout the late sitar participant Pandit Ravi Shankar, who was a collaborator and guru of George Harrison, the band’s lead guitarist. Aleksandr, a protege of Mahotram Sabri and Ustad Rafique Khan, quickly switched from guitar to sitar and even purchased a copy of Ravi Shankar’s autobiography My Music, My Life, imitating the sitar virtuoso’s posture on the quilt. “That was my first exercise,” he says.

Aleksandr Konanchuk from Russia
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Will, who’s from Johannesburg, too listened to Ravi Shankar and The Beatles whereas rising up. His curiosity piqued when he discovered a vinyl file of Ravi Shankar’s Concerto for Sitar & Orchestra in his father’s assortment. Handong from Seoul, who discovered Sebastian after a lengthy search, has a comparable story.

Will Dewar from South Africa
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Handong Ryu from South Korea
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The solely Indian musician in the group, Anurag Sharma from Haryana, began listening to sitar music to get focus whereas working as an IT skilled. “It was kind of a ‘taboo’ music because it was difficult to learn and nobody in my circle listened to it,” says Anurag, who started coaching below Sebastian after he moved to Berlin for work.

Anurag Sharma from India
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Matthias from Berlin, says, he was influenced by German pop bands, which featured the instrument in their songs, in contrast to the others.

Matthias Seidel from Germany
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“I started playing sitar because the music touched me very deeply. I couldn’t understand it. I didn’t know why but it made me cry a lot. So I thought why not learn it,” says Trilli from Berlin, who discovered a showpiece sitar in her basement, an heirloom from her grandparents who have been missionaries in Kerala. The musician took this instrument to Sebastian asking him to coach her on it. “I laughed out and said no I can’t teach you in this,” recollects Sebastian.  

Tina Bartel from Germany
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Initially educated by Gisela Tarwitt in Potsdam, Germany, and later by Partha Chatterjee from Kolkata, Sebastian factors out how international artistes typically begin studying the instrument as adults. “I was 20 years old when I started learning this,” says Sebastian at the moment educating 12 college students in his music faculty.

A placing distinction between European and Indian classical music is the presence of strict notes in the previous and the importance of areas between the notes in the latter, says Sebastian. “There are rules, but these do not make it more difficult. Instead, it’s like grammar for a language, which gives you the freedom to express things correctively,” he says. 

The world recognition of Indian classical music is intently associated to the presence of the Indian diaspora, says Will, who grew up amongst a massive group of Indians in Johannesburg. During his faculty days as an structure scholar, he was uncovered to different native devices reminiscent of sarod and tabla by means of his Indian classmates.

The sitar music tradition in Berlin solely occurs in smaller circles, factors out Sebastian referring to a current dearth of Indian artists travelling to Germany. “Big names had come to Germany from the 70s until the 90s and also early 2000s. Many veteran artistes have either passed away and remuneration is also said to be low,” says Sebastian.

“Earlier people would throng events featuring Indian music. Now, everybody can go to India and the brand alone doesn’t attract people. It can also have an aftertaste of exoticism to say something is special because it is from India. It’s a classical art form and should be promoted as such, which many organisers do not understand,” he provides. 

However, Sebastian is hopeful about String Theory. “I have other musical ideas and there is still a lot to explore. I hope that this can bring new audiences, and can motivate people to learn. It’s a chance to attract this generation and it would be great to offer a new sound culture,” he says.