Celebrating 75 Years of Indian Independence at Carnegie Hall

I was honored and privileged to attend the Festival of Indian Music celebrating 75 Years of Indian Independence at Carnegie Hall on 15th August, 2022. The celebrations included performances by renowned Sarod musicians, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Ayaan Ali Bangash and Amaan Ali Bangash, who performed with the Refugee Orchestra Project conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya.

Walking to our seats, we crossed a picture of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan on the wall outside Zankel Hall –

It is always a pleasure to expereince Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons, Ayaan Ali Bangash and Amaan Ali Bangash, play the sarod, especially in a setting like Carnegie Hall. Ayaan mentioned that they had played at Carnegie Hall at a celebration of India’s 50th Independence Day as well!

It was a joyous celebration of India’s Independence. We had amazing box seats that made us feel like we were practically sitting on stage.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan played one of my all time tunes that was composed by Rabindranath Tagore –

It was wonderful to see their performance with the Refugee Orchestra conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya.

I missed the Empire State Building lit up in the colors of the Indian flag this year, but here are some pictures from last year –

#gottalovenewyork