Z.M. Dagar / Rudra Vina, 1975-05-31, University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archives

Film session featuring performance by Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (rudra vina). Recorded at the University of Washington, Seattle, on May 31st and June 5th, 1975.

Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar was the world's most renowned exponent of India's Rudra veena , the instrumental ancestor of the Sitar. He was also one of the few masters of Dhrupad , the slow, austere, meditative traditional music still performed as it was centuries ago by Dagar forefathers in the Mughal courts. He was born on March 14, 1929, in the town of Udaipur,Rajasthan. He began his training under the tutelage of his father , Ustad Ziauddin Khan Dagar, court musician for the Maharaj of Udaipur. He had performed all over the world and also he was affiliated with the American society of eastern arts in Berkeley, California and taught for many years at the university of Washington in Seattle and Rotterdam Music Conservatory in Holland. In 1990 , Ustad was awarded by Kalidas Samman, one of the most prestigious award of the country , by M.P. Government. He had also received Sangeet Natak Academy Award , Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Academy award, Maharana Kumbha award and many more (Dhrupad.org).

The University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archives’ Garfias Film Collection contains recordings of ethnographic music and dance performances made by ethnomusicologist Robert Garfias during the 1960s and 70s. Garfias’s films, digitized in partnership with the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, include materials from Korea and the Philippines, as well as recordings of international artists made locally in Seattle, Washington.

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