Saskia Rao-De Haas – Indian cello workshop

Saskia Rao-De Haas (The Netherlands/Delhi, India)

Bio:

Saskia Rao-de Haas, a world-renowned virtuoso cellist, composer, and educationalist from the Netherlands, is known for her mastery of Indian classical music. She became fascinated with Indian music in 1993, leading her to create the Indian cello, a new instrument. Saskia co-founded the Shubhendra and Saskia Rao Foundation, promoting Indian classical music’s joy and benefits for children. Her innovative approach resulted in the development of the “Sangeet4All” music curriculum, benefiting over 30,000 children and 100 music teachers.

Instrument Explanation:

Saskia’s invention, the Indian cello, presented unique challenges. Adapting the large cello to be played sitting down required replacing the straight endpin with a T-shaped one for stability. This change in posture affected fingering and bowing angles. Saskia also had to incorporate distinctly Indian tools like gamak and meend for transitioning between notes, as well as chikari or resonance strings for enhanced effect. She even created a smaller cello for ease of travel and faster passages, which she now uses to interpret Western composers.

Workshop Introduction:

In this workshop, professional musicians can explore Indian music’s physical and artistic benefits. Saskia shares her observations from 30 years of experience, witnessing how practicing Indian music helps musicians slow down, improve intonation, rhythm, and understand modal improvisation. The workshop focuses on the melodic and rhythmic components of Indian music, particularly raga and tala. Participants engage in improvisation over the tanpura drone, refining their intonation and exploring musical possibilities. Saskia has conducted workshops worldwide, fostering meaningful musical and cultural dialogues.

The workshop’s emphasis lies on playing and understanding the structure of Indian music, rather than theoretical knowledge. It comprises the following sections:

1. Practicing a Raga with embellishments
2. Improvising in the Raga outside the metric structure (alap)
3. Composition in a Raga and Tala (the rhythmic aspect)
4. Bringing it all together

By the workshop’s end, participants gain practical experience in playing a raga and learn how to apply their knowledge to their own practice.