Stan About Town: South Asian Arts

A unit in a mill on the historic street of Mabgate hardly seems like the obvious place for me to go to learn about an organisation specialising in the preservation and promotion of art from the Indian Sub-Continent, but that is where I found myself on a wet Wednesday afternoon.

I had an appointment with Keranjeet Kaur Virdee, the CEO and Artistic Director of South Asian Arts, whose smile and demeanour soon brightened up the day. She told me how the organisation was founded in 1997 by Ustad Dharambir Singh, who came to the city to teach Improvisational Jazz at Leeds Conservatoire. Whilst here he noticed the lack of opportunities for the learning and performance of South Asian music, the only places it was practised were in the temple or at home. He set about organising a feasibility study to test the water, and when he found it was warm enough to swim in, he took the plunge.

The dream was to set up a Centre of Excellence for South Asian Music and Dance, and that is exactly what he did. It operates by getting children interested in those mediums and nurturing them, through the inquisitive stage as children, their development as adolescents when they are mentored and taught by a guru, and finally to the elite phase for those who wish to take their talent to its limits. To this end SAA organises summer schools for the taster events and then more formal classes.

Twenty-five years later and here we are with the original dream fulfilled. I would go so far as to say it has surpassed the founder’s wildest expectations by producing such talent as Jasdeep Singh Degun and Roopa Panesar, both of whom I have had the pleasure of seeing perform and whose skills on the sitar blew me away. Old hippie talking!

I first saw Jasdeep at Huddersfield Town Hall when he performed his classical piece, Arya, with the Orchestra of Opera North. It was amazing, and you don’t have to take take my word for it, as he is now Opera North’s Artist in Residence. Not only that, but he has adapted the 1607 opera Orpheus, by Monteverdi, to combine the Western instruments of that time with similarly dated Indian ones. I can vouch for the quality of the result as, to my surprise, Ms Virdee asked if I would like to join her for the final run-through of the piece at Opera North’s Rehearsal Room. This was an experience I will never forget. To witness the work which goes into the production of the final version, and in such an intimate space, was a privilege. I was amazed by the way in which the Indian voices seemed so different from those of the English Opera North stars, including Nicholas Watts and Amy Freston, yet during the duets they seemed to be as one. I will be at the opening night on Friday, 14th October at Leeds Grand Theatre and can hardly wait.

As time has gone on, SAA has become more inclusive and counts among its performers; guitarist, Jack Jennings; saxophonist, Jesse Bannister; santoor and tabla player, John Ball; drummer and percussionist, Luke Reddin-Williams; violinist, Olivia Moore and vocalist, Tanya Wells. Some have become so involved that they also teach the new generation of artists.

The next time you see an event where South Asian Arts is involved, why not pop along and give it a try.

To find out more go to  www.saa-uk.org where you will also see a link to the programme of events.