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Profile of an Artist - Abhay Rustum Sopori By - Sunanda Vashisht Sunanda Vashisht Sunanda Vashisht was born in the beautiful valley of Kashmir, India when Kashmir was known for its unparalleled natural beauty and not as a cauldron of fear and terror. She did most of her schooling in Delhi and dabbled with several professions before moving to U.S last year. she is currently pursuing higher studies here. she likes to introduce herself as an explorer because she wants to spend all her time in this world exploring unknown. Writing for her is a cathartic experience. She can't remember when she began writing first but she does know that writing has always helped her to be at peace with herself and with the world around her.

SAWF has a tradition of encouraging and showcasing young talent from South Asian Community. In the footsteps of that tradition we at SAWF feel both honored and proud to introduce to our readers, Abhay Rustum Sopori, an accomplished Santoor player and Music Composer. Son of legendary santoor player, Padmashri Pandit Bhajan Sopori, young Abhay has music in his genes. His maturity in playing and understanding music far exceeds his age. Born in a musical environment and spiritual surroundings, Abhay has been learning instrumental and vocal music both from his Grandfather Pandit Shamboo Nath Sopori and his illustrious father. Abhay has a profound sense of music that he has inherited from his traditional Sufiana Gharana, under the Guru-Shishya Parampara, with its roots of Santoor playing of more than 150 years. He has also learned Western Classical Music providing him a base for systematic compositional work.

Abhay’s debut as a Santoor player in 1997 in a prestigious concert in Delhi was very well received by the music lovers. Since then he has been performing on the national and international platforms. He has performed in countries like USA, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, etc.

He has participated in some of the very prestigious music festivals of India and abroad prominent being ‘Jeonju Sori Festival-2004’, ‘Asian Music Festival-2002’, ‘Sankat-Mochan Festival’, ‘Harballabh Sangeet Festival’, ‘Indira Gandhi Memorial Concert Series’, ‘Basant Utsav-Kolkata’, ‘NDMC Morning Raga Concert Series’, ‘Spic-Macay Concerts’, ‘International Doctors Meet at AIIMS - Delhi’, ‘Sharadh Purnima Sangeet Mahotsava’, ‘Raag-Tarang Festival’, ‘Bandra Festival’, ‘Pranav Sangeet Samaroh’, ‘Salt Lake Festival’, ‘Arpan-2004’, etc.

Abhay’s performances demonstrate a keen sense of Gayaki (Vocal) and Tantrakari (Instrumental) techniques, which is the essence of his Baj (style). Performing along with the accompaniment of Pakhawaj is also a special characteristic of his Baj. Another remarkable and unique quality of his presentation is that he sings the composition along with its instrumental rendering. Some of the great asserts of his playing are clarity of notes, Melodious Sequence of Notes, Lightning Tempo and his dedication and zeal for perfection in adapting the Style created by Pt. Bhajan Sopori known as ‘Sopori Baj’. These include variety of ‘Taan patterns’, ‘Bol Patterns’, ‘Chand Patterns’, ‘Meend’, ‘Gamak’, ‘Glides’, etc. which are the characteristics of the Sopori Baj.

Abhay has already made some innovations in his Santoor by introducing the ‘Open String concept’ to boost the lower octave of the Santoor and further developing the ‘Been Ang’ on Santoor.

Abhay has also played for the Signature Tune of India’s top News Channel ‘Aaj Tak’.

His concerts have brought him a lot of appreciation by the music connoisseurs and the critics in India and abroad.

Abhay was given the first prize in the State Music Competition in Srinagar when he was just 10. He also sang as a playback singer in the ‘National Award’ winning Kashmiri feature film ‘Bub’. He has also sung for various Documentaries, Tele-films, Serials, etc.

Abhay is also an established composer. He has composed music for a number of serials, documentaries, etc. like ‘Tabla Ka Itihaas’, ‘Guldasta’, ‘Roshni’, ‘Do Sheron Ke Kahani’, ‘Kabir Bani’, etc. Abhay has assisted his father in several Tele-films, Documentaries, Albums, etc. To name a few: ‘Mahamritunjaya’, ‘Durga Kavach’, ‘Surya Upasana’, ‘Kashmir - A Rainbow Of Melodies’ etc.

At this age only, Abhay has had the privilege to perform with great musicians from India like the legendary Tabla Maestro Pt. Kishan Maharaj, and many more.

He is a double graduate in ‘Commerce’ and ‘Computer Applications’ from Delhi University. He is also doing his research studies in music.

For more information please visit www.santoor.org

Currently (Nov. 2004) Abhay is touring United States with his father Pandit Bhajan Sopori and is performing at various prestigious concerts around the country. To get more details about their concerts please watch this space.

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