Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, musicians and sons of the legendary sarod artiste Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, return to Singapore with their concert, titled Soul Strings, on September 9, followed by a performance in Bangkok.
Speaking to Connected to India, the musician brothers speak of their “very fond memories” of a place where they last performed with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra. It was January 2020, and there was talk of “something called COVID” — and then, as Ayaan says, “the rest is history”.
Their first experience of Singapore was as teenagers, in 1992, when they performed on stage at the World Trade Center. Many more performances in the island state followed, including several at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.
The Bangash brothers return now to celebrate the world’s recovery from the pandemic — “it is like a second half for the planet” — and spread the message of “universal togetherness, peace, [and] harmony” through their music. About Soul Strings, Ayaan explains that he and Amaan would pair up with “two brilliant percussionists”.
Despite their many years of public performances, the brothers remain humble learners of music. Amaan, the elder, says that the honorific of “Ustad” should remain with musicians of the stature of their father, their true guru. The brothers still want to remain students of music, unwilling to let an honorific create a distance between themselves and their audience.
Watch the full interview on the YouTube channel of Connected to India.