An Evening of Ecstatic Chant with Snatam Kaur & GuruGanesha Singh March 26, 2011

March 26 & 27

Join us for 2 nights of ecstatic chant with world-renowned devotional music artist Snatam Kaur. Last year concert sold out, so buy your tickets early to avoid disappointment

Concert, chantfest, musical group meditation, a yoga class in melody . . . how best to describe a live performance by Snatam Kaur and her band? It’s all of these things and more. Crystalline and radiant, Snatam’s voice is redolent of the simple yet powerful truth of the heart.

Snatam’s divinely melodic songs based on traditional Sikh mantras are augmented by simple, heartfelt English verses that express the meanings these sacred syllables hold and help the audience forge their own emotional connection. Snatam is ably supported by devotional music stalwart GuruGanesha Singh, who handles the guitar with effortless grace, slipping easily between chordal rhythms and mellifluous leads.

Snatam accompanies herself on harmonium (Indian pump organ), as well as violin and guitar. The harmonium and tablas ground the sound in Punjabi Sikh musical tradition, but the music also has a decidedly Western flavor. Most of the concert songs are done in the call-and response kirtan tradition, which builds an energetic momentum that palpably fills each concert space.

Snatam often leads audiences in a round of pranayama (yogic breathing) or gets everyone on their feet for a stretching exercise that soon becomes a sacred dance. By the end of the night you will be let in on a great cosmic secret: devotional music is fun.