Sarod is a stringed instrument, one of the most popular and prominent instruments in Hindustani (northern Indian) classical music. Sarod is rarely played in China. So, Chinese audiences are not familiar with this Indian instrument. Therefore, a sarod recital would be a good chance for the audiences to know more about the special instrument.

Invited by the musicology department of CCOM, the sarod master player Danny Birch and his daughter Azelea Birch presented a performance to introduce the important Indian stringed instrument--Sarod. On the afternoon of June 29th, 2009, a sarod recital was held in a rehearsal room of Multi-Functional Building at CCOM and Professor Chen Ziming hosted the recital.

Before the performance, Mr. Birch introduced the structure of sarod and the way it has been played in Indian music, including the orchestration of sarod ensemble (sarod, tabla, and tambura) and the fundamental structure of a raga. These knowledge assisted audiences to understand the music better. Then they played an afternoon raga Multani, which consists of 5 ascend notes and 7 descend notes. It was not only a wonderful performance, but also a lively lesson on sarod culture.