NYUAD Arts Centre collaborates with PRS Foundation, British Council

Sarathy Korwar has already struck a chord with NYU Abu Dhabi, NYUAD, students and UAE-based musicians, as a dynamic percussionist whose residency in September and October helped develop relationships and explore musical collaborations with students, faculty and members of the Abu Dhabi community. His residency continues to create new music through collaborative performances and workshops until 12th December.

Since arriving in the capital on 27th September, Korwar has already shown his talent in the recent Season 6 opener of Rooftop Rhythms, as the UK-based artist performed with poet/rapper Jaysus Zain. And he hasn’t stopped there, as he visited with the Bait al Oud for a tour of the school where he interacted with the artists, students, faculty, staff and members of the Abu Dhabi community, culminating in a collaborative performance with local Oud players and NYUAD Arabic percussion students.

This informal jam session led to a duo performance with Sherine Tohamy during a ceremony marking the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between NYUAD and the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development.

This collaboration has come around thanks to the work of The Arts Centre at NYU Abu Dhabi, British Council, and PRS Foundation. The 'Musician in Residence' is a special initiative for the UK/UAE 2017 Year of Creative Collaboration. The range of Korwar’s activities throughout the year have been in line with the UK/UAE 2017’s themes of community and the next generation.

The US-born, India-raised, UK-based musician brings his fusion of East African, Sufi, and Indian influenced music, with jazz and electronics - a sound that was prevalent on his debut album 'Day to Day' and continues to feature in his work today.

Korwar was born in the US grew up in Ahmedabad and Chennai in India, where he began playing the tabla at the age of ten, yet was intrigued by American music he’d heard on the radio. At 17, Sarathy studied tabla under the tutelage of Rajeev Devasthali, translating his skills to the Western drum kit and playing as a session musician. He then moved to London, where he trained as a classical tabla player under the guidance of Sanju Sahai and graduated with a MMus in Performance from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS.

Korwar has finished the first part of his residency here but is itching for the second half to get started on 1st December 2017. He said, "I’ve spent a great week collaborating with a wide range of musicians and am looking forward to coming back and developing these projects further. Being on campus has been an inspiring experience, and I can’t wait to be back."

From 1st to 12th December, Korwar will continue working with the students of NYUAD, collaborate with local percussion groups, as well as perform in 'Hekayah | The Story' - The Arts Centre’s National Day celebration, on 5th December.

Bill Bragin, Executive Artistic Director at The Arts Centre at NYUAD, is excited to see what else comes from this residency, underpinning that The Arts Centre is more than putting on shows on the stage. "Sarathy was a perfect artist for The Arts Centre’s collaboration with the UK in the UAE Musician in Residence programme. He shares our interest in deep community engagement, learning through both classroom and studio settings, and a joy of using the highest levels of artistry to connect people of diverse backgrounds through the arts."