Raag Darbar 2026, a 2-Day musical bonanza of Indian Classical Music

Raag Darbar 2026, a 2-Day musical bonanza of Indian Classical Music & Gurmat Sangeet held by Sarb Akal Music Society of Calgary on Friday June 26 & Saturday June 27 at Rozsa Centre of University of Calgary turned out to be a great success. It was a celebration of the contribution made by Sikh artists to the Classical music as well as Gurbani Sangeet. So, obviously all the artists, whether from Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto or from US & UK, were Sikh youth born or brought up in Europe & Western hemisphere. This event was dedicated to Bhai Satta ji & Bhai Balwand ji who were Rababi musicians in the court of Sikh gurus and they also created the music instrument known as Jori.

Inaguration on 1^st day was done by simple Candle lighting by the esteemed guests & board members and the 1^st act of the day was the singing of Shabads by Vocalist Manvir Singh along with Ram Singh on Tabla and our Rattan Sidhu on Violin. Such a beautiful & medodius start by our Calgary artists set the momentum for the great performances ahead. The second act was a powerful performance by Maiher Singh Virk on Jori along with Hardeep Channa on Harmonium. The duo literally set the stage on fire. The last act of the day was a mesmerizing Vocal performance by Vidushi Ramneek Singh accompanied by Maiher Virk on Tabla & Hardeep Channa on Harmonium. Such a soulful presentation of various classical compositions, Shabads and Tarana by Ramneek proved it to be an unforgettable performance. 

Second day of the event started with Shabad reciting by Basant Singh with profound devotion in the accompaniment of Maiher Singh Virk  & Hardeep Channa on Tabla and Harmonium respectively. It was an amazing presentation of Gurmat Sangeet by this young Vocalist. The final act of this concert was a memorable performance on Sitar by Vidushi Roopa Panesar along with Rohan Bhogal on Tabla. She played her Sitar so magically that it was virtually singing each and every word of Shabad and Tarana. Truely, a performance Par Excellance!!!  The house remained just spellbound and a standing ovation was well earned.

MLAs Peter Singh, Irfan Sabir and Gurinder Brar graced the stage with short but impressive speeches and MLA Peter Singh was kind enough to present Certificates of Appreciation too. Kudos to the entire team of Sarb Akal, including the Board members and Volunteers, for organizing such an awesome and spiritually enriched concert! Last but not the least, a big ‘Thank You’ goes to our Sponsors for their generous support without which it was not possible to bring this concept of Raag Darbar to the ground reality.

                                                                   – Jasbir Chahal, Vice President