Continuing Traditions
In Distribution
Indian Classical Music meets Irish Traditional Music.
Acclaimed Indian classical musician and composer Ustad Wajahat Khan and much-loved and renowned Irish musician and composer Peadar Ó Riada come together in a unique exploration of the shared musical heritage of their beloved native traditions.
Compiled from over 40 hours of footage, filmed over a two-year period, Continuing Traditions intimately captures the creative process, charting the birth and evolution of two new compositions, from their initial conception through meticulous arrangement and rehearsal, right through to their first public performance.
World Premiere at the 2022 Dublin International Film Festival, Ireland – March, 2022 with Ustad Wajahat Khan, Peadar Ó Riada and Director Dónal Ó Céilleachair in attendance for a post-screening audience Q&A.
WINNER – Best International Non-Fiction Feature Film Award
Samskara International Film Festival, 2023
WINNER – Best International Feature Documentary Award
Vindhya International Film Festival, 2023
In 1981, members of the renowned Ustad Imrat Khan Indian classical music family travelled to the West Cork village of Cúil Aodha. They were invited to perform at the 10th anniversary commemorations of Irish composer Seán Ó Riada. The events were officially opened by President Patrick J. Hillery and attended by leading national and international musicians, cultural figures and dignitaries.
Now, 40 years later, Ustad Wajahat Khan and Peadar Ó Riada have come together to continue the conversation through a creative collaborative exploration of what their respective traditions share in common and what makes them so radically different.
For these master musicians this is an exploration firmly rooted in a mutual heritage of musicianship and composition modulated through structure, melody, rhythm and time.
Compiled from over 40 hours of footage, filmed over a two-year period, Continuing Traditions intimately captures the creative process, charting the birth and evolution of two new compositions, from their initial conception through meticulous arrangement and rehearsal, right through to their first public performance.
About Ustad Wajahat Khan
Ustad Wajahat* Khan is widely regarded as one of the great sarod virtuosos of our time.
Based in London and his native Kolkata, Wajahat has performed in over 40 countries worldwide at prestigious festivals and in venues including Symphony Hall in New York, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and the Royal Albert Hall in London. Wajahat belongs to the eighth generation of one of India’s first and foremost musical dynasties known as the Imdad Khani Etawah Gharana which goes back 400 years to the courts of the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the 16th century. He is the son and nephew of the legendary sitar maestros Ustad Imrat Khan and Ustad Vilayat Khan respectively.
With revolutionary contributions to the art of sarod playing he has energized its performance repertoire with his distinctive style and virtuoso technique, which interweaves a wide spectrum of vocal and instrumental forms. He has established a worldwide following with many acclaimed recordings to his credit.
About Peadar Ó Riada
Son of Seán Ó Riada and Irish Composer of the Year in 2008, Peadar is a musician, choir leader, radio-broadcaster and all around nurturer of the Irish cultural flame. His diverse work includes concerto for pipes, song cycles, Chorale works, an extensive body of traditional work and a large body of liturgical works – mostly in the Irish idiom.
Peadar’s interest in Indian music extends as far back as his student days – he explored the links between Irish and Indian Classical Music in his university thesis at UCC in 1976.
This – together with his father’s interest in oriental and Indian music – inspired him to ask Garech Brown (of Claddagh Records) and his wife HH Princess Harshad Purna Devi of Morvi if they would invite members of Ustad Imrat Khan’s family to perform at his father’s commemoration in 1981.
View further info. on Peadar on http://www.peadaroriada.ie/
An Anú Pictures Production.
Made in Association CCTV
Arna Mhaoiniú ag Údarás Craolacháin na hÉireann leis an Táille Ceadúnais Teilifíse /
Funded By The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland With The Television Licence Fee
Press Stills
To download Press Stills click on: PRESS STILLS
Stills can also be grabbed from the slideshow below.
(Please be sure to credit photographs “Courtesy of Anú Pictures”)
For International Irish Festival & Film Festivals enquiries please contact Eleanor Melinn at IFI International .
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