By Alissa Orozco
High pitched chords of sitar filled the air and drum-like beats of tabula bounced off the walls of the music building on a recent Wednesday, when UC Santa Barbara’s Music of India Ensemble performed as part of the Music Department’s weekly World Music Series.
The hour-long show acted as preview to the Ensemble’s grand performance at the end of the school year, on June 8.
UC Santa Barbara music professor Scott Marcus performed alongside his students, acting as their conductor and leading the group on his own instrument, switching between fast and slow rhythms. The group comprised students in both Marcus’ beginning and advanced sitar classes, and included Marcus’ son.
“In this music, the composer is you, the performer. There’s no composed music,” Marcus explained in an interview. “You are taught these structures, these scales — in India it’s called raga — and then every time you perform, you’re just supposed to improvise.”
For nearly 35 years, Marcus has been running UCSB’s Music of India Ensemble. The group studies the musical traditions of North India. The classes that range from beginner to highly advanced perform mainly on the sitar, an elongated guitar-like instrument, whose vibrating, lingering sound is a staple in North Indian classical music.
UCSB Music professor Scott Marcus leads the World of India Ensemble.
Motivated by what he saw as a lack of cultural representation in music, Marcus studied Indian classical music in Connecticut, in California, and in India. He was hired by UCSB in 1989 as the university’s first ever sitar instructor, and every year since then the Ensemble has put on various concerts and performances.
This year’s final concert recital will be held on June 8, in UCSB’s Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall, and will include multiple performances from students in different class levels, playing both the sitar and tabula, as well as a dance performance by one Marcus’ students, Esha Shrivastava.
Marcus will not only be conducting the group, but performing with them, as they bring the traditions and sounds of North India to the stage.
“The students are great, they’re extremely sophisticated,” Marcus said. “[The beginner class] started in January, but they’ve learned so much. It’s very impressive.”
UCSB’s World of India Ensemble led an hour-long performance at UCSB’s Music Bowl as part of the Music Department’s World Music Series recently.
Alissa Orozco is a third-year student at UC Santa Barbara studying English. She wrote this article for her Digital Journalism class.