Described by one artist as "the G20 summit of Indian music" and as the “place where everyone expects and gets the highest quality performances of Indian classical music," by arts journalist, Jameela Siddiqui, the Darbar Festival 2009 is one not to miss.

Indian classical music is arguably one of the most complex and complete systems of music ever developed. What began as Vedic chants several thousand years ago developed into a sophisticated musical system by the 3rd century.

The music is based on a single melody line, which is played over a fixed drone and the performance is based melodically on particular ragas and rhythmically on talas. The music has been passed down orally. Improvisation predominates and written notation, when used, is skeletal.

This series from the Darbar Festival, presented by Lopa Kothari, features ten outstanding performances from artists from the two main strands of Indian classical music, the North Indian Hindustani and South Indian Carnatic traditions.

Harmeet Virdee (Sitar)
A recital displaying serenity, vibrancy and stunningly mature improvisations. Harmeet Virdee, a young British talent plays this most iconic of Indian classical instruments, made famous by Pandit Ravi Shankar, with charismatic vibrancy and skill, matched by speed and the power of his musical strokes.

Ashwini Bhide Deshpande (North Indian Hindustani Vocal)
Ashwini Bhide is one of the finest classical divas from the north Indian classical tradition. She has a range of over three octaves and has a reputation for soulful ragas sung in a unique style that blends different influences. Her performances encompass lyrical khayal, a beautiful, imaginative and flowing style that transports you to another world.

Ganesh and Kumaresh (South Indian Carnatic Violin)
A violin duet that combines Indian classicism with more contemporary styles by brothers Ganesh and Kumaresh. The recital presents a series of pre-composed and improvised pieces where the pace builds up and slows down in geometric progressions within complex rhythmic patterns.

Rupak Kulkarni (Bansuri or North Indian bamboo flute)
Few Indian instruments are as evocative as the simple bansari or bamboo flute. This simple bamboo instrument, in the hands of Rupak Kulkarni, a student of maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, produces one of the most haunting and captivating sounds in Indian classical music.

Aruna Sairam (South Indian Carnatic Vocal)
Aruna Sairam is one of the best voices to emerge from the Carnatic tradition of southern India an this concert presents a rich repertoire of beautiful and rare classical compositions as well as lighter folk forms and melodies.

Somjit Das Gupta (Rabaab) and Sukhvinder Singh (Jori)
Somjit Das Gupta is one of few maestros playing Indian classical music on the rabaab – a forerunner to the sarod – that originated hundreds of years ago from Afghanistan. Sukhwinder Singh (Pinky) then presents a rare recital on Jori, a percussion instrument that resembles tabla from Punjab in northern India.

Tejendra Majumdar (Sarod)
Pandit Tejendra Majumdar is quite simply one of the finest sarod players of this generation. He had training from one of the greatest sarod maestros of our times, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Accompanying him on tabla is the remarkable, irrepressible Pandit Kumar Bose.

UK Carnatic Ensemble
A line of rising UK musicians from the south Indian carnatic traditions singing beautifully crafted vocal melodies, backed by violin, flute, and dynamic percussion from the north and south of the sub-continent.

Wasifuddin Dagar (Dhrupad Vocal)
Transport yourself to ancient India with deeply devotional dhrupad singing. Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar represents the 20th unbroken generation of dhrupad singers in the Dagar family. Traditionally his family has always performed dhrupad as a duet, but Wasifuddin successfully presents the dynamic of a duet in a solo performance.

Purbayan Chatterjee (Sitar) and Shashank Subramanium (Carnatic Flute)
Purbayan Chatterjee, who plays the sitar with a maturity beyond his years, takes the stage with Shashank, a child-prodigy of the south Indian flute to present a performance of speed, virtuosity and mercurial invention that fuses the Indian classical traditions from the north and south traditions of the sub-continent.