Sierra Madre Playhouse hosts rare Hindustani trio September 5

Music touches our souls, and listening to multicultural music can be refreshing. The mesmerizing sounds of Indian veena, a plucked string instrument; bansuri, a bamboo flute; and percussive tabla blend seamlessly in a program of classical Indian rāga when Sierra Madre Playhouse continues its Hindustani Music Series with “Samyōga – A Confluence of String, Wind & Rhythm” on Saturday, September 5, 2026, at 4:00 PM, at the historic 99-seat venue, featuring Suman Laha on veena, Anand Vemuri on bansuri, and Jyoti Prakas on tabla.

The meaning behind the name

Samyōga — from the Sanskrit samyōga (संयोग), meaning “coming together” — features an afternoon of Hindustani classical music, the living classical tradition of North India. At its heart lies the rāga: a melodic personality; a constellation of notes shaped by characteristic movements, emphasized tones, ornamentation, and melodic grammar, all of which evoke a distinct emotional atmosphere, or rasa.

From solo to confluence

The program traces a journey from solitude to confluence. It begins with two solo explorations. Anand Vemuri plays the bansuri, while Suman Laha performs on the ancient string instrument, the veena. Each artist illuminates a rāga through the unique voice of the instrument: one carried on breath, the other ringing through strings. Though their instruments arise from different musical traditions, both share a deep commitment to the contemplative spirit and expressive subtlety of Hindustani music.

In the final set, these two melodic voices converge in jugalbandi, the celebrated duet tradition in which musicians engage in spontaneous musical dialogue, echoing, answering, challenging, and inspiring one another in real time. Throughout, Jyoti Prakas on tabla provides the rhythmic framework through the intricate cycles of tāla, completing the confluence of string, wind, and rhythm.

A conversation with Anand Vemuri:

‘What is the importance of this concert?’

We’re excited to showcase two beautiful instruments of Indian classical music, the flute and the veena, coming together in a unique way.

What makes Samyōga particularly special is that both of our instruments have been individually modified to expand their expressive range within Indian classical music. The music demands an extraordinary degree of nuance, including subtle ornamentation, continuous melodic movement, and shapes that can sometimes be difficult to reproduce instrumentally.

Both of us have approached that challenge by adapting our instruments while remaining rooted in the classical tradition. So this concert is really a samyōga, a coming together of flute and veena, but also of tradition and innovation.

What do you want the audience to remember?

Our gurus would often remind us that Indian classical music is not meant for entertainment alone. At its deepest level, it can be a pathway toward inner transformation.

For us, the music we present is an offering. We have received so much from our teachers, from this tradition, and from life itself, and music is one of the languages through which we can express gratitude and love.

Our responsibility as musicians is to communicate something of that current to the audience. We hope listeners can sink into a space of introspection and leave feeling a little lighter, more peaceful, and renewed.

More than any technical detail of raga or rhythmic precision, we hope people remember how the music made them feel, the peace, spaciousness, and serenity that Indian classical music can reveal.

Will you play traditional pieces or new compositions?

We’ll primarily be presenting traditional compositions, but on instruments that have evolved from their classical forms.

That creates an interesting combination. The compositions themselves may be timeless, but our instruments allow us to approach certain phrases and melodic ideas in new ways. Some nuances that can be challenging to reproduce instrumentally become much more natural through these modifications.

So we’re not trying to reinvent the tradition. Rather, we’re using modern innovation to explore its possibilities more deeply.

What are your future projects?

A major goal for us is to build greater awareness of Indian classical music in the West.

We want to help create a bridge so that anyone who feels moved by this music can not only listen to it, but eventually learn to understand and express themselves through its language.

At the same time, we want to continue delving deeper into the tradition ourselves, exploring less-traveled melodic and rhythmic possibilities and experimenting within the extraordinary improvisational framework that Indian classical music offers. There is still an enormous amount of musical territory to explore.

What else should the audience look for?

Don’t feel intimidated by the technical details of Indian classical music!

You don’t need to understand rāga, tāla, ornamentation, or music theory to experience it. In fact, one of the marks of great music is that someone who knows nothing about its technical structure can still walk away having genuinely felt something.

So come without an agenda. You don’t need to analyze the music or figure out what is happening.

Just be present, listen, and notice what arises within you. No prior experience is required, just an open mind and open heart.

DEETS

• Samyōga  – A Confluence of String, Wind & Rhythm
• Sierra Madre Playhouse Hindustani Music Series, Los Angeles-based artists devoted to the living tradition of Indian classical music.
• Saturday, September 5, 2026, 4:00 p.m.
• Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 West Sierra Madre Boulevard, Sierra Madre, CA 91024