ICMD

ICMD is the Indian Classical Music and Dance group at the University of Michigan. I met them a couple of years ago when they were looking for instrumentalists for a show they were putting on. They contacted the Saadhanai Indian Music organization, which is an organization that does Indian music lessons in Ann Arbor. I had been taking lessons trough them with Dr. Rajan Sachdeva for about a year and a half. One day I showed up for lessons and they were there with about 15 instrumentalists all scattered about working out pieces. It was like a Indian music smorgasboard. I played with a flute player, sitarist, vocalist, and other tabla players. I have been playing with them ever since. They put on a big show every semester where they showcase music from the North and South of India. It has been such a great learning experience for me. We played a show on Friday called Geetanjali. I played with vocalist Amit Sawant, and a tabla ensemble made up of Nidhip Patel, Ashish Deshpande, and Aniket Joshi. It was at the U-club in the Michigan Union, a really cool old building that was one of the original UofM buildings. The concert was a lot of fun, although it was over 3 hours long! One thing I have learned is that when you are playing this music, time is not much of a consideration. You have to just get on board and go along for the ride. It is great though because, when you think about it, there are not many chances to see Indian classical music in America, so when you do, why not get your moneys worth. Actually, the more concerts I go to, the more I am comfortable with the time and the more I get into the musical journey. It is all so wonderful, and I feel lucky to be a part of it.

Thanks for reading,

John