Utsav Lal I Live in Melbourne I Arts Center (2017) I One Beautiful Thing

Creative Indian pianist/ composer and Young Steinway Artist, Utsav Lal is recognized as a musician extraordinaire who has set a precedent in the world of music. Choosing to perform on an instrument that has traditionally been considered unsuitable for Hindustani Classical Music, Utsav’s innovative handling of ragas on the piano blends his diverse musical influences and has left listeners spellbound. Known as the ‘Raga Pianist’, Lal’s soulful renditions in traditional Alap Jod Jhalla have won him fans all over the world and invitations to perform at international festivals and global platforms that include Carnegie Hall-NY, Southbank Centre-London, The Kennedy Center- DC, The National Concert Hall-Dublin, Konset Huset-Sweden, Asia Society- Hong Kong, Theatre Orangerie-The Netherlands, India Habitat Centre-New Delhi, Arts Centre- Melbourne, NCPA-Mumbai.
Deriving fresh inspiration from an ancient tradition, Utsav Lal has developed his own unique voice for the piano. Completely improvised, slowly expanding from a single note outwards to complex waves of rhythms and virtuosic passages, Novara Jazz festival Director Corrado Beldi describes Lal’s playing as having “illuminating grace”. Lal’s music is deeply influenced by Indian Classical Music and blends in his experiences in jazz, blues, western classical, folk, Irish music and free improvisation. Drawing additional strength from myriad jazz and post-modern concepts, the music is captivating with great range and variety in tempo, dynamics and emotion and recognized for its sincerity, simplicity and depth.
This short video excerpt is from live performance of Act 2: Live Piano music, based on Raga Puriya, composed and performed by Utsav Lal. at Arts Center, Melbourne (2017) for One Beautiful Thing , Feb 2017.
Debuting for AsiaTOPA with four shows at the Arts Centre Melbourne in Feb 2017, One Beautiful Thing sees renowned circus-arts theatre company Circa collaborate with practitioners of the Indian wrestling sport Mallakhamb to deliver this feature-length work. Commissioned by AsiaTOPA and developed between India and Australia the work sees six Mallakhamb performers and piano virtuoso Utsav Lal collaborate with the Circa ensemble under the direction of Yaron Lifshitz.