| Folk Arts - Master Artist - Vishal Darshan NagarVishal Darshan Nagar was born into a family of musicians in Delhi, India. Vishal began studying Indian tabla drumming at a very young age and spending hours practicing with his teacher, Ustad Latif Ahmed Khan, to learn the intricacies of the drum and taals (rhythmic cycles). Vishal also received additional training from Ustad Shamin Ahmed Khan and special rhythmic training from his mother, Urmila Nagar. Vishal began by first learning tabla in guru-shishya parampara style. Due to the age at which he started, Vishal was able to quickly master all four styles of tabla drumming. In 1998, Vishal was the only artist selected for a tabla performance in the Youth Festival hosted by the India Government organization Shitya Kala Parishad. Today, Vishal travels to Seattle to teach with his mother, Urmila Nagar, a Master of Kathak-style dance. Urmila has been teaching Kathak dance to her Indian-American students since 1996. Vishal has performed all over the world and has been a featured artist at Seattle's WOMAD festival.
Tabla is a set of tuned drums and is the most popular percussion instrument in Indian music, especially North Indian Classical music. The tabla often accompanies and sets the rhythm for a North Indian classical dance known as Kathak.
As a recipient of a 2000 Apprenticeship grant, Nagar taught Akshay Krishnamurthy to play the tabla drum. Akshay began playing and studying tabla drumming since he was six years old. Akshay’s grandmother, a well-known musicologist, encouraged Akshay’s lessons. Family travels took Akshay to Bangalore, India where he was able to study with Shymala Bhave. When Akshay’s family moved to Seattle in 1999 he was able to take lessons from Vishal Nagar, who had been conducting summer residencies in Seattle for the last few years. During the apprenticeship Nagar focused on teaching Akshay tabla techniques for accompaniment for vocalists, other instrumental musicians, improvisation techniques, how to compose for accompaniment, folk beats used for accompaniment, and Kathak dance. As an accompanist, a tabla musician provides the Taal for the vocalist or main artist. Akshay also learned new taals (rhythm cycles) that are used in accompaniment, including rupak, dadra, khemta, and kherwa. During his apprenticeship, Akshay was introduced to compositions of the four main gharanas (Delhi, Benares, Ajara, and Farukhabad) in various talas (rhythm cycles), including teentaal (16 beats) and jhaptal (10 beats). Akshay Krishnamurty hopes to be able to accompany many of the vocalists and instrumentalists that play Classical Indian music in the Seattle area.
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