Mumbai based arts company First Edition Arts and Antisocial come together to present an experience of Indian classical music, one of the most exciting musical forms rich in improvisation and creativity. We begin on the evening of August 27 with a concert titled Come Together, at the Antisocial performance venue with a Sitar and Sarod dialogue by two young Masters who are the Goa basedace sitaristVinayakChittar and the UK based sarod artiste ArnabChakrabarty. They will be joined by SwapnilBhise on tabla. The title refers to the fact that this will be a real exchange of musical ideas and a dialogue between two musicians who are not in competition with each other to grab audience attention with frenzied and gimmicky tricks. So here is the real thing, exquisite music being made on stage right in front of you.

There will be a quiz and prizes including spending quality time with the artistes post concert over a drink. A special and unusual evening of the best Indian classical music in your favourite nightclub by two young and contemporary masters of Sitar and Sarod.

VinayakChittar and sarodistArnabChakrabarty have known each other for 21 years, of which, they have been active collaborators for 13. While both musicians have studied music under illustrious, world-renowned gurus in the traditional one-to-one format, they realised at some point that in order for their music to be fresh and relevant, they needed to utilise each other as resources. What began as an exchange of repertoire across two distinct stylistic lineages of instrumental music turned into a close collaboration that began to impact their practice methods, technique, musical tastes, and eventually emerged as a distinct musical ideology on its own terms.

Vinayak and Arnab have not allowed their collaboration to be limited to the study of ragas, technique and presentation methods, but have jointly delved into problems of instrument design and development, sound recording, and solving sound reinforcement problems. Their joint work has turned into a feedback loop that has helped both musicians optimise their workflow and practice habits towards their individual musical goals.

When they perform together, there is no struggle for airtime, for neither of them feels a need to dominate or speak over the other. It is a healthy exchange of thoughts, a conversation via the raga, rather than what the typical jugalbandihashave unfortunately come to represent today - a frenzied game of oneupmanship and noise.