orld famous IndianBritish musician Nitin Sawhney is equally comfortable presenting a musical performance on stage, as facing questions at a national television show on various issues from education and the internet, to the war in Afghanistan. He aptly proved this during his recent visit to Australia when on September 3, Sawhney appeared as a panellist on ABC’s highly acclaimed programme Q&A. The following evening he took centrestage at the Concert Hall at the Sydney Opera House, mesmerising a capacity audience with his melodious and rhythmic compositions.

For a live performance from an artist of high repute and fame, it was not unusual to find the auditorium packed with connoisseurs of music. Obviously expectations were high and Sawhney the maestro didn’t disappoint. Unique, powerful and entertaining are the best words to describe his 90-minute programme. His ensemble comprised of Aref Durvesh on tabla and dholak, Ian Burdge on cello, Martyn Kaine on drums, Ashwin Srinivasan on flute and vocals, and guest vocalists Tina Grace, Nicki Wells and Rahel. Combining instruments and voice, Sawhney presented over a dozen tracks from his albums Beyond Skin, Sunset, Prophesy and others. They all reflected his class in combining the best of east and west. There were strong influences of Indian taals and ragas in many numbers, even the inclusion ofBengali and Hindi in the lyrics. Some renditions generated high energy, inspiring the audience to clap with the rhythms. Aref Durvesh demonstrated his strong percussion skills throughout, but enthralled the audience with high beats in the last item of the evening, in duo with Nitin on guitar. Ashwin amazed everyone by wonderfully alternating between flute and vocal, while Nicki was outstanding, singing a Sanskrit sloka that depicts the quality and features of Lord Krishna. She also impressed the audience singing, Nadiya bair bhai, a famous composition of Nitin in Hindi based on the style of the traditional thumri

Summing up the entire performance, the event was a lush

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