In 2019, Berklee College of Music had the privilege of presenting Ustad Zakir Hussain with an Honorary Doctorate. The tribute concert “Zakir Hussain Meets Berklee” incorporated myriad musical elements from Zakir Ji’s life’s journey, varying in styles, instrumentation and presentation. We wanted to have Zakir Ji do a spoken word piece in tribute to his father, Ustad Allarakha Qureshi, considering that 2019 was the centenary year of his father’s birth.

This piece was only partially prepared, with a portion of the piano motifs, vocal and string lines pre-composed; the rest being improvised in the moment, flowing as Zakir Ji recited stories about his dear father. We are grateful to Zakir Ji’s family for helping us source beautiful photos and memories of this special father-son relationship.

“Abbaji and Me”
Spoken word written by Ustad Zakir Hussain
Composer: Yotam Ishay with Annette Philip
String Arr: Yotam Ishay

Visiting Artist
Spoken word and Tabla: Ustad Zakir Hussain

Keyboard: Yotam Ishay, Afula, Israel
Voice: Annette Philip, Kerala, India
Violin I: Brian Urra, Santiago, Chile
Violin II: Luna Ramos, Miami, Florida
Viola: Noah Leong, Detroit, Michigan
Cello: Emanuel Keller, Jerusalem, Israel
Drums: Yogev Gabay, Be’er Sheva, Israel

Producer: Artistic Director, BIX, Annette Philip
Artist Relations: Senior Director, Global Engagement, Middle East & India, Clint Valladares
Assistant Manager, BIX: Rohith Jayaraman
Assistant, BIX: Lydia Renold
Global Development: Mirek Vana
BIX Interns: Alma Blum, Social Media & Marketing; Atman Sheth, Production; Hrushabh Talapadatur, Live Sound & Production; Prithvi Prajosh, Writing & Editorial

Recorded live at Klarman Hall, Harvard Business School
Front of House Engineer: Nick Schmalensee (Bergsten Music Inc.)
Monitor Engineer & RF Coordinator: Jeremy Jones (Sonic Audio)
Stage Manager: Ayumi Ueda
Visual Design: Peter Zebbler Berdovsky, Leah McLeod, Autumn Ahn, & Devon Bryant (Zebbler Studios)
Video & Streaming Services: Damon Movitz (D2 Productions)
Video Editing: Mrityunjay Sathyanarayanan
Lighting Services: Andrew Boucher & Nate Jewett (High Output Inc.)
Multitrack Recording Producer: Stephen Webber
Multitrack Recording Engineer: Ian Kagey
Mixing Engineer: Stephen Webber
Mastering: Jonathan Wyner

A special thank you to Dean Nitin Nohria and the staff of Harvard Business School who helped make this event possible.

About the Berklee Indian Ensemble: Founded in 2011 by faculty member Annette Philip, the Berklee Indian Ensemble is one of the largest and most diverse ensembles at Berklee. Apart from performing original compositions and arrangements, the Berklee Indian Ensemble tours internationally; presents a wide array of South Asian folk, classical, and contemporary music; and has collaborated with various world-renowned artists, garnering over 181 million views for their viral videos to date.

Ustad Zakir Hussain:
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Website: http://www.zakirhussain.com/

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Website: http://www.berklee.edu/BIX

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