Sitar, cello and tabla for Diwali night at Howard Assembly Room

Sitar, cello and tabla for Diwali night at Howard Assembly Room

South Asian Arts-uk marks the Festival of Lights with Silver Harmonies, a concert celebrating 25 years of life and music between Pandit Shubhendra Rao and Vidushi Saskia Rao-de Haas, joined by tabla player Ustad Shahbaz Hussain.

Diwali falls on Sunday 8 November this year, and Leeds has a rather good way to spend the evening of it. South Asian Arts-uk (SAA-uk) is bringing Silver Harmonies: 25 Years Together in Life and Music to Howard Assembly Room, an evening of Indian classical music built around one of the genre’s best-known partnerships.

On stage are sitarist Pandit Shubhendra Rao and cellist and composer Vidushi Saskia Rao-de Haas, who have shared a stage and a life for a quarter of a century. They are joined by tabla player Ustad Shahbaz Hussain for what is billed as the only Leeds date of their Silver Anniversary Tour.

Diwali is a festival of light, reflection, new beginnings and togetherness, and the concert leans into that. Expect an intimate conversation between sitar, Indian cello and tabla, rooted in classical tradition but shaped by the musicians’ long habit of pushing at its edges. The couple describe music as “a bridge between hearts, and the language of the soul.”

The artists

Pandit Shubhendra Rao is one of the foremost disciples of Pandit Ravi Shankar, whom he began studying with as a boy. He has since taken the sitar to stages including Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, and built a reputation for collaborations that carry Indian classical music well beyond its usual audiences.

Vidushi Saskia Rao-de Haas is a Dutch cellist, composer and educator who has spent three decades developing a voice for the cello within Hindustani classical music, playing a custom-made Indian cello. Through the couple’s music education work, including the Sangeet4All initiative, she has helped bring music lessons to more than 100,000 children in India. In 2025 she was made a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau, one of the highest civilian honours in the Netherlands.

Ustad Shahbaz Hussain is one of the leading tabla players of his generation, known for his rhythmic precision and for moving easily between classical and contemporary settings.

SAA-uk says the evening is about connection, “between people, cultures and musical traditions”, which is about as fitting a description of Diwali as you’ll find.

About South Asian Arts-uk

SAA-uk is a Leeds-based arts organisation founded in 1997 by Ustad Dharambir Singh MBE. It works across performance, education and participation to develop and share South Asian arts and culture in the city and beyond. Silver Harmonies is presented in partnership with Howard Assembly Room, with support from SAMA Arts.