The second annual Gurmat Sangeet Workshop was held at the Wellington Gurdwara Sahib from 6 to 13 October.
About 40 students ranging from the ages of 6 to 50 participated in the workshop conducted by Master Manjit Singh and Daljit Kaur of Auckland along with Dalbir Singh, the resident Granthi (Priest) of the Gurudwara Sahib (Sikh Temple).
Aside from the harmonium (vaja) and tabla, students were also taught the rebab.
SEE ALSO: Wellington’s first Sikh classical music camp
The daily workshops ran from 9 to about 4pm daily with langar (meal) provided by the Wellington sangat (congregation).
The program highlight was the youth smagam (programme) held on the evening of 13 Oct to a sangat (congregation) of about 150 people.
Awards and certificates were given to all the students who participated by the Wellington Sikh Society president Nirmal Singh.
Encouraged by the increase in the number of participants this year, Dalbir plans to have two such workshops next year and hopes to also attract more students from other ethnic communities.
He felt that communities could be brought together through the teaching and understanding of each other’s music.
He noted that the rebab was particularly popular with the students as there was no other place in Wellington where it was being taught and is also not often heard.
There are about 2,000 Sikhs in Wellington and services in the gurdawara are conducted two times a week – an evening service on Thursdays and a morning service on Sundays.
[For more information contact Melvinder Singh or Dalbir Singh@ 64-22-1696720]
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Wellington’s first Sikh classical music camp (Asia Samachar, 30 Dec 2017)
