Unity Spiritual Enrichment Center to host musical journey to India

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, October 7, 2025

PORT TOWNSEND — Richard Russell will present “Raga and Tala: A Musical Journey to India” at 4 p.m. Saturday.

The concert will be at the Unity Spiritual Enrichment Center, 3918 San Juan Ave., Port Townsend.

Tickets are $25 per person at https://bit.ly/429eFP8 or $30 at the door.

The concert will feature Anjan Saha playing sitar, Arup Chattopadhya on the tabla and Russell playing sarod.

The sarod is a fretless stringed instrument in the lute family that is central to the classical music of the Hindustan region of northern India.

The sitar is a plucked, three-stringed instrument also used in classical Hindustani music.

Tabla refers to a paired set of hand drums. The smaller, higher-pitched Dayan is played with the right hand while the Bayan, which is larger and lower-pitched, is played with the left hand.

Tala comes from the Sanskrit word for hand-clapping and refers to the rhythmic framework or meter of Indian music and provides the foundation for a composition or improvisation.

Raga refers to a structured melodic element of Indian music that often is used for improvisation, especially within the framework of a tala.

Saha and Chattopadhyay are both from Kolkata, India. Russell is based in Everett.