Sama’a: Festival of Sufi music – Day 2

Sufiana compositions by K. M. Sufi Ensemble

Sufi music is practised in different regions of the world through myriad genres. In the Indian subcontinent, it finds expression through vocal genres of ghazal, qawwali and various regional folk-forms, especially from Rajasthan, Punjab and Sindh. Although performed mainly at Sufi shrines (dargahs), these genres have gained mainstream popularity. Qawwali is specially regarded as the most accessible form leading to a spiritual crescendo through music.

Nurtured at composer A. R. Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory (KMMC), the K. M. Sufi Ensemble is a collective dedicated to the spirit of Sufi music. The ensemble seeks to preserve and rejuvenate the timeless art of qawwali, a devotional expression of love, longing and the search for the divine.

Working closely with scholars and practitioners, this 16-member group is grounded in the tradition and yet attempts to introduce contemporary harmonies and other music arrangements to evoke spiritual ecstasy, inner peace and transformative unity, thus creating a seamless dialogue between tradition and innovation.

The group will present some time-honoured qawwalis such as ‘Man Kunto Maula’, ‘Dum Mast Qalandar’ and conventional compositions of Nusrat Fateh Ali and Munna Shaokath. They will also render popular Sufi songs, composed by Rahman, like ‘Kun Faya Kun’ (from the film Rockstar) and ‘Khwaja Mere Khwaja’ (from Jodhaa Akbar), taking listeners on a journey of spiritual reflection and artistic transcendence.

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