Friday 14 June 2013

Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar




Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar was born on June 15th 1932 in Udaipur, Rajasthan in a family of court musicians at the princely court. 

During his childhood he was exposed to the courtly atmosphere, daily hearing the Riyaz of his father and elder family members. He was trained in both, Dhrupad Vocal and Instrumental (Sitar, Veena) by his father, Ustad Ziauddin Khan Sahib, together with his elder brother. After some time the father and Guru decided that the eldest son should take to the instrument Rudra Veena, as to continue the instrumental part of the family tradition, where as his second son should be trained as Dhrupad Vocal performer. After the early death of his father, the only 13 years old Ustad Zia Fariduddin continued his training under the guidance of his elder brother, Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. 

In 1947 both the brothers left the court of Udaipur and came to Bombay in1951, keeping up with their dedication towards the family tradition of Dhrupad Music, in spite of facing the hardships of daily life. Their home in Chembur, with regular gatherings of music lovers in the form of Baithaks, turned out to be one of the topmost addresses for listening to high level classical music in Bombay, even handed out as secret information, given by the foreign embassies to visitors interested in music.

Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar, as well as his elder brother, did travel worldwide to perform and teach Dhrupad Music. He did spend some years in Austria, France and Netherlands, but finally in 1981, followed the repeated calls to come back to India, to teach at the “Dhrupad Kendra”, Bhopal. This Gurukul at the Ustad Allauddin Khan Sangeet Accademy was designed according to the instructions of Ustad Z. F. Dagar, to train a group of only 5 students at a time, for a period of 4 years in Guru- Shishya Parampara. 

2001 to 2004 Ustad was invited as a visiting professor at IIT Powai, Mumbai, for teaching at “Dhrupad Sansar”. During that period he also did work on an IIT Research Project to develop “Rasa Veena”, a musical instrument combining the qualities of Rudra Veena and Sarasvati Veena, together with his nephew, Ustad Mohi Bahauddin Dagar. 

After teaching for all in all 26 years at “Dhrupad Kendra”, Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar left finally Bhopal in 2005 and shifted his residence to “Dhrupad Gurukul” in Palaspe, Panvel, Navi Mumbai. This private Gurukul had been founded in 1986 by his elder brother, the Veena Maestro Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, who died unexpectedly early in 1990.

Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar did receive numerous awards, amongst them Tansen Award (1993), Sangeet Natak Academy Award (1993), Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Academy Award, Travancore Swati Tirunal Dhrupad Award, Maharana Mewar Kumbha Award, Dagar Gharana Award, Tagore Ratna Fellow Award (2012), and numerous other awards.

He has performed widely all over India and around the rest of the globe. Just to mention some of the bigger performances: With the UNESCO tour in the USA (1971), at the Durham Oriental Music Festival in U.K. (1982), at the Albert Hall Promenade Concert BBC, London (1983), Festival of India in Europe and USA (1985/86), at the Festival of Espania, Spain (1998), amongst numerous others.

Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar had become a “Living Legend”, as a Guru and Performer of world fame. He was travelling, teaching and performing until last. He left his physical body after short time of illness in the age of 80 years, on 8th of May 2013. But his music will be going on in the form of numerous students he did train in the course of his rich and royal life. Just to mention some of the more famous performers amongst his students, there are names like Gundecha Brothers, Uday Bhawalkar, Ritwik Sanyal, Nirmalya Dey, Pushparaj Koshti, Nancy Lesh-Kulkarni, Marianne Svasek. He did also tutor his elder brother´s son, Ustad Bahauddin Dagar in both Dhrupad Vocal and Rudra Veena.


Watch Dhrupad Film to learn more about Ustad & Dagar Gharana