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Didge, tabla, oud, flute – Sunnyside Conservatory travels the world in music

November 6, 2011 by BONNEE WALDSTEIN

Photos by Susan Levy

It was a chance to break out of the confines of Monterey Boulevard and Diamond Street, Sunnyside, Glen Park, and beyond, and go on a musical tour to distant continents.

On Friday, November 4, the Friends of Sunnyside Conservatory presented an evening of world music that spanned Australia, the Middle East, North Africa and India.  Travis Wernet, aka “Outlaw Dervish” opened the concert with selections from several of his didjeridu, which he’s been playing for fifteen years.  He learned the instrument from aboriginal masters as well as his mentor, Alan Tower.

The didjeridu is a wooden instrument made from trees hollowed out by ants.  The northeastern Australian Aborigines developed it over 1,500 years ago. Native women “hunt” for the suitable tree and craft the didge with sanders, sandpaper and chisels. Luckily, Wernet tops well over six feet, as his “didges” were almost as long as he is tall. Four years ago, with the help of the native people, Wernet hunted there for his own; it was among the collection of four didges he brought with him.

The didjeridu has no reed.  The sound is made by sheer force of mouth, cheeks, and throat.  The result is a deep, rumbling sound one can feel in one’s bones.

Switching continents, the audience was treated to music from North India.  Eiyahu Sills, who studied in North India, Turkey, Morocco and Israel, was on “flutes and lutes.” Featured was music played on the oud, a pear-shaped stringed instrument that was a precursor to the lute. With Jason Ranjit Parmar on tabla drums, they collaborated on a couple of ragas, a classical form that uses a series of five or more musical notes forming the basis of the melody.

Following this, they played a ragmala, several ragas in succession, as in “a string of beads.” The duo then played three poems – Arabic, Turkish and Persian – on traditional Middle Eastern flutes, called ney, made of bamboo reeds.  “It’s the oldest instrument known to humanity and spans all civilizations,” he noted.  It sounded straight from nature as each note tumbled out with a rush of air like the wind.  Parmar accompanied Sills on the tabla drums, using the expert technique of complex hand and finger movements. The simple instruments produced music of complexity and emotion.

For a knock-your-socks-off combo, Wernet on didge joined Sills and Parmar for a musical mash up:  “Australia meets North African craziness after the Pangaea split,” ad-libbed Wernet.

The finale was a North African sing-along in which the audience’s job was to sing “Hey, Molana” (Oh, my Master) in a repeating give and take.

Then it was time to exit onto Monterey Boulevard, and contemplate the World beyond.

For information about Sunnyside Conservatory and future events:  www.sunnysideconservatory.org.

Eliyahu Sills on oud and Jason Ranjit Parmar on tabla. Photo by Susan L. Levy
Travis Wernet on didjeridu and Eliyahu Sills on oud Susan L. Levy
Travis Wernet on didjeridu and Eliyahu Sills on ney. Photo Susan L. Levy

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Glen Park Association
2 weeks ago
Glen Park Association

Meet one of the Greenway’s most diligent volunteers -- A Townsend Warbler as far as Google knows. Progress in removing invasive oxalis is going well, but work remains! As the sun comes out, please join us at the Glen Park Greenway Native Meadow (between Lippard and Brompton Streets) to carefully remove invasive oxalis plants. Email our oxalis remediation lead, Kathy Keller at greenway@glenparkassociation.org if you can help! ... See MoreSee Less

Meet one of the Greenway’s most diligent volunteers -- A Townsend Warbler as far as Google knows. Progress in removing invasive oxalis is going well, but work remains! As the sun comes out, please join us at the Glen Park Greenway Native Meadow (between Lippard and Brompton Streets) to carefully remove invasive oxalis plants. Email our oxalis remediation lead, Kathy Keller at greenway@glenparkassociation.org if you can help!
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Glen Park Association
2 weeks ago
Glen Park Association

Join us THURSDAY JANUARY 19 at the Glen Park Association Quarterly meeting. We'll be in-person at the Glen Park Rec. Center at 6:30 PM. Our agenda includes:

-- A special presentation from QuitCarbon,
-- Meeting the new owners of @canyonmarket ,
-- Learning more about projects at @sfrecpark & @sfpublichealth, and
-- Electing 2023 GPA officers.

Have you renewed your membership for 2023 yet? Help keep our neighborhood vital by joining today at www.glenparkassociation.org/glen-park-association-membership/
... See MoreSee Less

Join us THURSDAY JANUARY 19 at the Glen Park Association Quarterly meeting. Well be in-person at the Glen Park Rec. Center at 6:30 PM. Our agenda includes:

-- A special presentation from QuitCarbon, 
-- Meeting the new owners of @canyonmarket , 
-- Learning more about projects at @sfrecpark  & @sfpublichealth, and
-- Electing 2023 GPA officers.

Have you renewed your membership for 2023 yet? Help keep our neighborhood vital by joining today at https://www.glenparkassociation.org/glen-park-association-membership/
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Coyote Yipps
Friends of Noe Valley Rec Center
Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project
Open SF History
Sunnyside Conservatory
Sunnyside History
Sunnyside Neighborhood Association
Tramps of San Francisco
Upper Noe Neighbors

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