Amie & Sangeet Millennium
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Amie & Sangeet Millennium

Dallas, Texas, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2006 | SELF

Dallas, Texas, United States | SELF
Established on Jan, 2006
Band World Jazz

Calendar

Music

Press


"ArtsEmerson Duo: Mozartian and Mahabhratian Magic"

Oct. 26, 2014: ". . . at the Paramount Theater [Boston], one of the cinema’s true giants narrated one of the two greatest Hindu sagas (the other being “Ramayana”), “Mahabharata”. One of the longest works ever written (with over 100,000 stanzas, fifteen times the length of the Bible), composed by many hands over many centuries, it survives as one of the most powerful guides to moral behavior. This version, originally a nine-hour play, subsequently a five-hour film, is presented in a much-trimmed ninety minute narration by Jean-Claude Carrière. . . . Oscar-nominated for his screenplays for “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”, “That Obscure Object of Desire” and “The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie”. He is also. . . the recipient of the just-announced, truly rare and extraordinary honor of a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award. His experience in directing showed as he played a wandering minstrel and a traveling bard (common in ancient India) giving voice to the oral epic. . . . He was assisted by expert sitarist Amie Maciszewski (playing for all of those ninety minutes), the sublime dancer Sunanda Narayanan and the vocalizing of Hari Narayanan, as well as Yusuf Buxamusa as the Young Man to whom the storyteller directs his tale. The relating of the story of the war between two families, . . . made the simple but powerful performance, mixing family histories, myths and legends, a moving experience. - Southshore Critic


"3 songs in Top Ten - Jan. 2014"

Sangeet Millennium Ensemble songs in Top Ten on the NumberOneMusic Charts - Jan. 2014
"Gorjone" #2
"Baal Govind" #3
"Without You" #5 - NumberOneMusic Charts


"Sangeet Millennium Ensemble in Top Ten World Music Bands 2010-11"

Sangeet Millennium Ensemble voted #8 World Music Band! (Feb. 2011) - Austin Chronicle Readers' Poll


"Monsoon Festivals. Weekly update by Meena Banerjee - Wednesday Recital"

" . . . (August 8) sitar exponent Dr Amelia Maciszewski (Amie) from the US, who is a senior disciple of Ustad Ashish Khan and Dr Girija Devi, offered her interpretation of raga Desh and a traditional kajri-based dhun. She displayed an eye for symmetry and a systematic pattern of layakari along with good melodic sense. . . . " - The Statesman (Kolkata) - August 2012


"An evening of instrumental music as tribute to Gurudev [Rabindranath Tagore]"

" . . . The second and final performance was by Dr. Amelia Maciszewski. . . . the sounds she coaxed from her sitar continued to resound in the hearts and minds of the listeners. . . ." 26 May 2011, New Delhi India. - Nai Dunia, New Delhi, May 2011


"Music Awards, Readers' Poll 2010-11"

Sangeet Millennium selected #8 in Best Performing Band, World Music! - Austin Chronicle - March 2011


"Sangeet Millennium Ensemble - Sangeet Safar"

If World Fusion is your type of music, then this is the perfect CD for you. . . . The effort behind Sangeet Safar (“Musical Journey”) is just that, a musical journey.
. . . In each song . . . you get the Indian flair with a touch of American jazz which brings the cultures from two different genres together. . . . a very well thought-out combination of music. Having the songs start out with the sitar . . . and then bringing in a saxophone to weave in another side of the story is a modern way of combining two worlds of music . . . the message that the Ensemble is trying to put forth . . . a great one . . . - Muzikreviews.com - March 2011


"Sangeet Millennium Ensemble - Sangeet Safar"

If World Fusion is your type of music, then this is the perfect CD for you. . . . The effort behind Sangeet Safar (“Musical Journey”) is just that, a musical journey.
. . . In each song . . . you get the Indian flair with a touch of American jazz which brings the cultures from two different genres together. . . . a very well thought-out combination of music. Having the songs start out with the sitar . . . and then bringing in a saxophone to weave in another side of the story is a modern way of combining two worlds of music . . . the message that the Ensemble is trying to put forth . . . a great one . . . - Muzikreviews.com - March 2011


"Live shot - Monterey Pop Tribute, Threadgill's World HQ, June 17, 07"

. . . Sunday's local 40th anniversary tribute to the Monterey International Pop Festival boasted numerous standout performances . . . Sitarist Amie Maciszewski opened with a mesmerizing nod to Ravi Shankar's seminal Monterey set . . . - The Austin Chronicle, June 2007


"A sitar and tabla duet at CFI"

"Amie Maciszewski presented examples of India's diverse gharanas on sitar . . . the audience applauded each rendition . . . " 14 Dec. 2009.
- Dainik Jagran, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, Dec. 2009


"Amie - under the spell of Indian music"

" . . . Amie's sitar playing enchanted everyone. . . . " 13 Dec. 2009.



- Prabhat Khabar, Dhanbad, Jarkhand, Dec. 2009


"Listen to my words, Oh Queen Radha"

" . . . at the the programme arranged by Rotary Club of Dhanbad . . . Amie charmed the audience with her classical songs . . .one by one she sang beautiful songs in Hindi and Bhojpuri. Not only that--Amie also earned the audience's admiration with her sitar playing . . . " 13 Dec. 2009. - Dainik Jagran, Dhanbad, Jharkhand, Dec. 2009


"Critics Poll - music"

CDs - Texas Top 10s

#1 The Sangeet Millennium Ensemble featuring Amelia Maciszewski, Shimmering
- David Lynch - Austin Chronicle, Jan. 4, 2008


"Chronicler of a Dying Tradition"

But when she sits with her sitar, it is her honesty that rings the loudest.

The horns of buses speeding by, the crackle of the microphone, or the long interface that she had to take part in immediately before her performance could have been excuses enough for concentration faltering during the alaap (of raag shyamkalyan). But Amelia would have none of that. Even as listeners at the Srijan rooftop come forward to congratulate her for what ended as a wonderful recital, she keeps reminding herself and others that it should have started better.

- The Telegraph, Calcutta, India, Jan. 20, 2005


Discography

CDs, available on CD Baby:
Sangeet Millennium Ensemble's "Sangeet Safar" (Sangeet Millennium Productions, 2010) - my Indo-jazz fusion project's release which blends and bends genres including Hindustani classical, light-classical, and folk music with original jazz. Saxophonist Paul Klemperer and tabla player Shiv Naimpally join me. Bassist Jay Srinivasan makes a guest appearance on one track. Material includes both live and studio recording. Two tracks from this CD are streaming on this EPK.

"Guru Pranam" (Sangeet Millennium Productions, 2010) - My classical sitar performance recorded live in concert at Sangeet Research Academy, 2009 (with Swapan Mukherjee - tabla). One track from this CD is streaming on this EPK.

"Lighting the Way: Padmabhushan Girija Devi" (Hindustani vocal diva). I provide backup vocals and play tanpura on this CD recorded live in concert in Austin, TX (Horizon Pvt. Ltd., 2008). Other artists: Pandit Anandagopal Bandhyapadhay - tabla, Rupan Sarkar - vocals, Amzad Rahman - harmonium.

"Shimmering" - The Sangeet Millennium Ensemble's first CD, nominated for Texas Top Ten for 2007-08 by the Austin Chronicle Critics' Poll (2007). Joining me are Alex Coke on sax and flutes, Bruce Saunders on guitar, Subrata Bhattacharya on tabla, and Naga Valli on vocals.

"Light and Legacy" - My classical sitar performance, with Rohan Singh Bhogal on tabla, recorded live in concert at The University of Alberta Convocation Hall (2007).

Other recordings & tracks:

"Gorjone" and "Without You" mp3s - streaming on this EPK

Boardworks KS4 Music - World Music (Oxford, UK, 2008) - commissioned recording of sitar performance with Shiv Naimpally on tabla as part of educational package

Photos

Bio

ABOUT AMIE

Sitarist Dr. Amie Maciszewski is an award-winning artist and educator. Audiences describe Amie’s traditional sitar/tabla and Indo-jazz fusion ensemble performances as “stunning” and “elegantly vibrant.” Her training includes both formal academic study (B.Mus., M.Mus., sitar) and traditional immersion mentorship in India, a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology (UTexas/Austin), and ongoing traditional study with two legendary gurus: Grammy-nominated sarode Maestro Aashish Khan and vocal diva Padmavibhushan Girija Devi.

Deeply committed to sharing the  music culture of South Asia, Amie has traveled three continents completing residencies, all-ages workshops, and playing recitals.  She has published numerous articles and produced-directed three documentary films on socially marginalized musicians. She has taught at the Universities of Texas, Alberta, and Pittsburgh; and completed artist-scholar residencies at  the Universities of Colorado, Chicago, Louisiana State, and Sangeet Research Academy/Kolkata. She has received multiple awards for her scholarship, teaching, outreach, and performance. 

She is a selected artist on the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) Touring Roster and Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA), Empanelled Artist of the India World Cultural Forum (IWCF); former City of Austin Cultural Contractor (2000-13),  Visiting Musician-Researcher at ITC-SRA/Kolkata (2011-2015), and New Mexico Arts Division Artist-in-Residence (1986-91). In 2016 she was selected by the US Consulate/Lahore, Pakistan, Public Affairs Office, to do a performance and educational outreach tour of Lahore and Islamabad.

Her Sangeet Millennium Ensemble (Chronicle Texas Top Ten award, 2008, 2011), seamlessly blends traditional Indian melodies with jazz/world grooves, creating a dynamic, boundary defying sound.

Amie has five CDs (two classical sitar,  three Indo-jazz fusion) to her credit, as well as sound tracks in several independent films and two theater productions.

She travels frequently to South Asia to meet her gurus, perform, and continue advocacy research.

 

SANGEET MILLENNIUM

 Sangeet Millennium Ensemble, founded in 2006 in Austin by sitarist, teaching artist, and ethnomusicologist Dr. Amie Maciszewski, effortlessly defies sonic boundaries, dynamically blending traditional South Asian melodies--classical, devotional (both Hindu and Sufi Islamic), and folk-derived--with jazz/world grooves, conjuring up a sound that is both contemporary in its ability to translate seamlessly to any culture and reminiscent of earlier fusion projects like Shankar Family and Friends, Jan Garbarek’s Ragas and Sagas, and the work of jazz great Ornette Coleman. Meditating on the unexpected, this collective emits sounds that have been described as "elegantly vibrant"-- lyrical, sometimes a bit eccentric, but always soulful in their melodic clarity and instrumental wit.” Named among the “Texas Top Ten” (2007, 2011-12, Austin Chronicle), Sangeet Millennium’s artistic work has received support from the City of Austin (2000-13), Texas Commission on the Arts (2008-present), and Mid-America Arts Alliance (2010-present), among others. They released their third CD, Pathways of the Soul/Roohani Manzilen/Moner Poth, in December 2016.

The ensemble's artistic work has received support from the City of Austin, Texas Commission on the Arts, and Mid-America Arts Alliance, among others. The Ensemble has released two CDs: Shimmering (2007), nominated Texas Top Ten by the Austin Chronicle Critics' Poll, and Sangeet Safar, which helped earn them selection among Austin's Top Ten World Music Bands in 2010-11 by the Chronicle Readers' Poll.



Band Members