About the Center
The Kalavant Center for Music and Dance
Established in June 1997, The Kalavant Center for Music and Dance is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to promoting and preserving traditional music and dance of South Asia, with a special emphasis on Indian classical music.
Officially opened on September 12, 1998, with an inaugural concert given by the late legendary sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan, legendary sarangi maestro Ustad Sultan Khan, and tabla maestro Ustad Kadar Khan.
Cultural Diversity
The evolution of Indian music over thousands of years has engendered a rich variety of 'schools' known as gharanas, each with its own unique approach to the musical idiom. Just as in the ecological sphere, where humanity in the twentieth century gave inordinate preponderance to select commercially viable species, and as a result, where we witnessed the extinction of entire species of plant and animal life, so too, many of Indian classical music's gharanas have become endangered species, with an irreparable loss to human culture. The Kalavant Center proposes to address this imbalance, so as to nurture the renaissance of Indian classical music as a whole, ensuring cultural diversity for the benefit of humanity.
Universality of Music
The ancient yet timeless wealth of Indo-European culture has spread across the globe, and has everywhere dissolved barriers of race, religion, and creed, testifying to the universality of music. The very name of India, Bharata, refers to music as a universal language. 'Bha' - bhava, 'ra' - raga, 'ta' - tala. Bhava literally means "to become", or "becoming", and in this context refers to the universal emotions conjured and brought to life by an accomplished musician. Raga is the melodic language of India, and tala is the rhythmic language of India. Thus, through these melodic and rhythmic languages, the ultimate goal of an Indian classical musician is to bring to life in their audience an experience of a Universal nature.
About the Founder Ustad Kadar Khan
The founder-director of The Kalavant Center, Ustad Kadar Khan, is a traditional Indian musician based in New York City, who regularly performs and conducts master classes at leading American universities, museums and other cultural institutions. He has accompanied the Grammy- award-winning guitarist Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt; master flautist Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia; sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan; and many other highly gifted musicians. In 1982, Kadar Khan founded the Naad-Niket Center for Propagation of Indian Music in Ahmedabad, India.
Ustad Kadar Khan
Activities
The Kalavant Center's main activities focus on performing and teaching Indian classical music at the highest level. Presently in New York City, The Kalavant Center's working staff consists of professional musicians, some of whom have 40+ years of experience performing and teaching Indian music. This staff is enriched regularly with other great musicians who come from India to teach and perform. The Kalavant Center provides an active platform for musicians and dancers to work through concerts, workshops, demonstrations, and master classes. Equally important, The Kalavant Center's activity's also includes recording eminent guest artists and disseminating these recordings in audio and visual formats.
Offer Your Support
The Kalavant Center for Music and Dance is a 501(c)(3) non- profit organization established in New York City. Our organization relies on the generosity of forward thinking individuals, and music enthusiasts to achieve its goals and to secure a successful future. Your past and current financial support has already helped to establish a firm foundation, and we ask you to continue this support as a realistic investment in preserving world traditions of music and dance for future generations. You play a very important part, for even a strong tree needs to grow and flourish.
We warmly invite you to participate with us as patrons, artists, teachers, students, volunteers, listeners, and well wishers.
Please be a contributing member and send your tax-deductible donations, with checks made payable to: Kalavant Center for Music and Dance, Inc. Please include your Name, Address, Telephone number, and Email address.
The Kalavant Center Mission
The Kalavant Center for Music and Dance is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to promoting and preserving traditional music and dance of Southeast Asia, with a special emphasis on the classical traditions of India.
The ancient, yet timeless wealth of Indo-European culture has spread across the globe, and has everywhere dissolved barriers of race, religion and creed, testifying to the universality of music. The very name of India, Bharata, refers to music as a Universal language. ‘Bha’ – bhava, ‘ra’ – raga, ‘ta’ – tala. Bhava literally means “to become”, or “becoming”, and in this context refers to universally existing emotions brought to life by an artist. Raga is the melodic language, as tala is the rhythmic language of India. Thus, through these melodic and rhythmic languages, the ultimate goal of an Indian classical musician is to bring to life in their audience an experience of a Universal nature.
Presently in NYC, the Kalavant Center’s working staff consists of professional musicians, each with 40+ years of experience performing and teaching all aspects of Indian music. The staff is enriched regularly with great musicians who come from India to teach and perform. The quality of musicians committing their time and skill to the Center shows the importance of the Kalavant Center’s mission. A high level of education is a major part of the Kalavant Center’s focus.
The founder-director of the Kalavant Center, Ustad Kadar Khan, is a traditional Indian musician based in New York City, and performs and teaches at leading American universities, museums and other cultural institutions. Khansahab has a tireless passion that has brought many community leaders together to join the Kalavant Center family to further the majestic healing power of music.