Thiruvananthapuram:
Sitarist Anoushka Shankar today said her next album “Land of Gold” focusing on refugee crisis in the world, will be released in March. The five-time Grammy award nominee, who will perform here tomorrow on the opening day of the seven-day long ‘Nishagandhi festival’, said “Land of Gold talks about refugee crisis that has influenced me a lot.”
“I have put the issues musically the best way I can. It will be released in March just before my US tour in April,” she said about her ninth album.
Asked about appeal of Indian classical music abroad in comparison with pop music, Anoushka, daughter of legendary sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar, said, “I am confident about our classical music, which has a strong appeal. I do not worry about our music... Very strong audience for our music.”
There was no need to compare the country’s classical music with others, she added.
To a question, she said “more students are coming forward to learn sitar.I am happy that lot of girls are also coming to learn,” she added.
On her album “Home”, which had won her a fifth Grammy nomination, she said, “It is a special album to me for many reasons. It is an album about going back to my roots, and was recorded as an homage to my father and guru Ravi Shankar.”
“This is the first time I am playing classical ragas on an album since he passed away. I felt deeply connected to him during the entire process. It does feel like an offering. I felt like I was reconnecting with him through playing the music that I have learnt from him,” she said. On her performance here tomorrow, she said it would be her first solo performance in Kerala.
“It will be a mix of Hindustani and Carnatic music. We have two rich classical traditions. We want to explore it together.”
“We are looking forward to that and it would be a unique experience...I am very excited to be back in India after two years,” she said.
Anoushka also recalled her first concert in the state along with her father in 2000.
