Hiking, Mozart and Utsav all in one weekend!

On Saturday we were off to a great start - excited to get a break in the weather and a gorgeous autumn day, we decided to go hiking. First we hiked the quiet Preston-Snoqualmie trail, culminating in a spectacular view of Snoqualmie Falls from the opposite side of the gorge, followed by a visit to the falls and a steep trek down to the lower observation deck, along with herds of tourists (it's not one of the most popular scenic attractions for nothing!).

On Saturday evening we attended a performances of Mozart's Requiem, one of our favorite classical pieces. Omoni (Hoon's mom) is still visiting and we decided to treat her to a performance at the Seattle Symphony. As with all great choral pieces, it is an amazing experience to hear such a hauntingly beautiful masterpiece in a powerful live performance.

And then there was Utsav 2007, Seattle's 4th annual South Asian Performing Arts Festival. Although we didn't make it to any of the free performances at the Seattle Center during the weekend, I convinced Hoon to accompany me on Sunday evening to Utsav's concluding performance at the MOHAI McEachern Auditorium.

First we enjoyed a very interesting performance of Carnatic music of South India entitled Tala Vadya Kacheri by a drum ensemble led by Ravi Balasubramanian with Vinod Seetharaman and Kuntal Roy. The performance was not only enjoyable but very educational. We learnt about various percussion instruments including ghatam (an earthenware pot), mridangam and tabla, as well as Carnatic violin and tambura. It was very helpful to hear the detailed explanations regarding raga (melodic modes), tala (beat), sruti (melodic pitch) and swara (solfege) used in Carnatic style of Indian classical music. It was interesting to see Ravi play ghatam not only as a percussion instrument as is traditionally done, but also play seven different ghatam in combination, using them in an innovative way as a musical scale. We enjoyed a number of spirited improvisations culminating in a thunderous finale.

Following a short break we enjoyed a fantastic performance of Indian classical dance in the style of Odissi by Sreyashi Dey and her twin daughters Ishika and Kritika Rajan of Srishti Dances of India, a Pittsburgh based dance company. Sreyashi's performances were mesmerizing particularly because this style of dance is marked by sensuousness and lyricism, further accentuated by her soft, graceful and flowing movements and incredibly expressive facial expressions. We were treated to six incredible performances beginning with Naba Durga then continuing on to various pieces ranging from pure classical Odissi to new and innovative choreographies drawing from the old traditions.