THE AMERICANS

Musical Obsession

Just 33-years-old and the holder of the University of California-Santa Cruz’ first-ever Classical Indian Music Endowed Chair, Dard Neuman takes time to speak with Diana LaVigne about his vision, his musical journey, and those who inspired him.

Born in Vermont, Dard Neuman started his musical obsession as a small child sitting by his maternal aunt Sharmistha Sen’s side, watching her turn a gourd and a few strings into passionate music that would later change the course of his life. With a mother originally from India, Arundhati Sen, and a father, Daniel Neuman, born in a Swiss camp during the Second World War, Dard doesn’t fall far from the family tree in terms of world influence and musical dedication. Not only is his father the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost of the University of Washington, he wrote the book, “The Life of Music in North India,” and just finished a new body of work, “An Ethnographic Atlas of Musical Cultures in West Rajasthan.” Additionally, his father studied violin and his brother, Rahul Neuman, is an accomplished sitarist in his own right.

According to Neuman, you must understand the importance of hierarchical lineage as well as non-hereditary learning before you can master understanding of a person in this craft. Sitar music is passed orally, or “seni to seni” (heart to heart), from generation to generation; there is really no formal way to score the music. Sheet music is rare and hardly, if ever, used. Sitarists can study a lifetime and still only reach the point of student in the end. To an average person this prospect might seem absurd, but to a true sitarist the opportunity to study the sitar for a lifetime is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And who you studied from becomes your own personal history and legacy.

After leaving the protected environment of his aunt’s lessons at home, Neuman worked with the esteemed late Professor D.T. Joshi, who was a student of the legendary sitarist, Ustad Enayat Khan. Khan was the father of the equally luminous Ustad Vilayat Khan, who died at an early age, leaving his son at too young an age to study. Without being able to study under his father’s master skills, Joshi stepped up and helped support the young Vilayat’s musical awakening. Why is this important? In classical Indian music, you become an extension of your teacher, says Neuman. And he became part of this heritage when he started studying with Joshi.

“D.T. Joshi was witness to a world of the greatest sitarists, including himself,” says Neuman. “I learned so much in my relatively short time with him. I heard about the warts as well as the wonders of the greatest musicians in history. D.T. Joshi had some amazing personal stories to share but he wasn’t just about stories. He also demanded the best out of his students.”

Neuman recounts that every minute spent studying with Joshi was a challenge and there was absolutely no slothful activity. It was purely about discipline.

Unfortunately, Joshi died shortly after Neuman began learning from him, and Shujaat Khan, based in Delhi, took up the reigns to become his new musical influence and guide.

“Sitar players are always students and will continue to learn for a lifetime. I hope to achieve this as well,” says Neuman. “The more one learns, the more knowledgeable you are about the gaps you see in your rise to the top. This is a statement of honor to the musicians, and both inspires and haunts me. I would love to find that lifelong bridge and reach that level. It’s my dream.”

The musician concedes that growing up in America hasn’t lent him the right environment to truly submerse himself in practice and study. While many artists reach technical maturity between the ages of 15 and 19, Neuman realizes that his maturity did not come as early as for his peers studying full-time in India. Additionally, he wasn’t born into the hierarchical model, which he believes provides a natural born set of musical tools for a life of study.

Neuman admits that he didn’t have any idea that classical Indian music would become his livelihood until after he began studying for his Ph.D. in anthropology at Columbia University (which he received in 2004). He had taken a year off to return to India and study sitar in Delhi. “It was a magical time of learning for me in many different ways,” says Neuman, revealing how the musical evenings and discussions moved musicians to exchange ideas and share stories. “The texture of what we learn is very much a part of my family. Being in Delhi, I felt it.”

As in the tradition of other sitarists, he is looking forward to teaching his 18-month-old boy, Sebastian, about the sitar in a few years.

“The first step to teaching is to play sitar at home. I will allow him to watch me play, but not to actually join me to play. If he shows a strong interest, then I will gladly teach him while acknowledging some basic practice guidelines and the changing role from father to teacher. Setting ground rules helps gain respect for the lessons and sets up powerful boundaries,” explains Neuman.

The daunting task of understanding the lineage and history of the sitar will have most minds so raveled that it is nearly impossible to unwind. But at the end of the day, hearing the sounds of sitar music reminds those listeners of the value of the lessons learned.

Sitar gurus look carefully at their student’s index finger used for picking. The level of callus is viewed as an indicator of the amount of time the student has practiced. The callused index finger is placed inside a wire pluck while the sitarist turns the amplifier on. The hands run the length of the teak neck of the lute instrument, towards the strings and the instrument is moved into a vertical playing stance. With carefully placed pauses, the sitarist turns this instrument, made from a gourd with an artful skill, into a vehicle of extraordinary sounds.

The music is reminiscent of ancient times, and starts at a slower pace to sync listeners to its song. But once the second component of the music called the pulse starts, you can feel the music enter your lungs and motivate your heart to beat accordingly. The pauses between the notes keep the audience spellbound and breathless as the sitarist moves to the third segment, which is very fast and technically and physically challenging. Lastly, the 45 minutes to three-hour concert piece ends in a climax, which lends a conclusion to the passionate and emotional tour that the sitar music ignites. The technical speed of certain segments is unbelievable, and many viewers find it difficult to even follow the rapid finger movements. Of course, there is no sheet music to follow because it remains an oral tradition.

And being an oral tradition, one of Neuman’s goals in his new position as holder of the University of California-Santa Cruz’ first-ever Classical Indian Music Endowed Chair is to create a comprehensive music library to archive recordings. But this is not the only goal of this young faculty member. In addition to his work as a professor teaching courses such as “Music and Politics,” “History and Culture of Hindustani Music,” and an Indian music workshop, Neuman is looking forward to helping build interest in Hindustani music in America and assisting lesser known musicians to promote their work and music. He has even seen some potential superstars within his own UCSC student body.

“We have several students showing terrific potential. For example, there is a cellist, Daniel Brown, who is incredibly talented,” comments Neuman. “He picks things up so naturally. It is so exhilarating to see that level of talent. We actually inspire each other.”

In the end, Neuman is a dedicated learner and educator of classical Indian music and has vowed to do his best to achieve extraordinary things in its realm. But perhaps his wife, Seema Rizvi, delivered his biggest task to him nearly two years ago. His child is the next generation of sitarists, and Neuman promises to attempt to influence his son towards music and pass along how the depth of music can contribute a lot to one’s life.

“Absorbing any subject so obsessively and deeply can act as a support for other things you do in life,” he says as a final comment. “I think it’s important to teach this to my child and I can hardly wait for that time to come.”