Art Base

Raphaëlle Brochet- voice

Carlo Strazzante- ghatam udu

Raphaëlle Brochet is a unique vocalist who grew up in the world of jazz and trained in South Indian Classical music. Her innate talent for improvisation and her exceptional sense of rhythm, combined with her mastering of solkattu and Persian singing makes her one of the most astounding vocalist of the European Jazz and World Music scene.

Born to musician parents, Raphaëlle Brochet grew up in the world of jazz and recorded her first album at the age of 17 with Floris Nico-Bunink (Mingus, Billy Holliday). After intense conservatory training in France, she received a full scholarship from Wesleyan University and learned from eminent masters of Carnatic music, Bharatanatyam, Taiko, Gamelan, Balinese and Ghanaian dance, and finally got a Masters of Ethnomusicology specialized in Carnatic Music. Her interest for the performing arts of Asia drove her to Bali, China, India and Iran, and she has been deepening her practice of Carnatic music for over ten years.

Now settled in Brussels, Raphaëlle regularly teaches and performs in Europe, North America and Asia.

www.raphaellebrochet.com

Carlo Strazzante plays oriental and Indian percussion. He has studied over the last fifteen years with renowned musicians, amongst whom master Madjid Khaladj, Prabhu Edouard and Shahbaz Hussain Khan. He has performed in Europe and Asia. In this concert he will play ghatam udu.

The Carnatic Music tradition is the Classical Music of South India. Like North Indian tradition Hindustani Music, it rests on the principles of raga (modal aspect) and tala (rhythmic cycles), and leaves an important role to improvisation. However, Carnatic music emphasizes the role of its repertoire, since the tradition is taught and learned through compositions that are transmitted orally from guru to syshya (master to disciple) across the generations.

The program features traditional pieces from prominent composers like Thyagaraja and Muttuswamy Deekshitar, a repertoire that Raphaëlle had the honor to learn from her masters in India (Sarada Thota et N.Govindarajan) and in the US (Balraj Subrahmaniyan et David Nelson). We will also give you some comments and explanations that will help you appreciate the beauty and the richness of Carnatic Music, and we will be happy to answer any of your questions.

Samples and videos

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