XXI TAGORE FESTIVAL, 2009
Saturday, October 9
Theme: Tagore and His Politics
PROGRAM
5:30: Reception
6:00: Invocation
6:15: Geeti Alekhya
(Narrative in Songs) based on Tagore’s Music
featuring Madhuri Das and Debashis Das from Bangladesh
6:45: Dinner
8:00: Keynote Speech
“Rebel without an Army: The ‘Individual’ in Tagore’s Politics”
Brian Hatcher, McFee Professor of Religion and Chair,
Department of Religion, Illinois Wesleyan University
9:00: Cultural Program
Rabindrasangeet Performance
Nirmalya Roy (vocal artist) from Kolkata
Subrata Bhattacharya (on the tabla) from Kolkata
XX TAGORE FESTIVAL, 2008
October 24-25
Theme: Ocean of Peace: Tolerance and Sustenance for All
PROGRAM: October 24
6:00: Reception
6:15: Invocation
6:30: Dance performed by children
6:45: Dinner
8:00: Cultural Program
Madhuri Das, Bangladesh: Tagore Songs
Arnab Chakraborty, Mumbai: Sarod
Subrata Bhattacharya, Kolkata: Tabla
PROGRAM: October 25
1:30: Reception
2:00: Keynote Speech
The Politics of Intolerance in South Asia
Dr. Sumit Ganguly, Tagore Professor,
Indiana University, Bloomington
3:00: Panel Discussion: Interfaith Dialogue
Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi, Dr. Mir Ali, Dr. Robert McKim Dr. Rajeshwari Pandharipande Dr. Rini Bhattacharya Mehta and Rev. Axel Gehrmann
XIX TAGORE FESTIVAL, 2007
October 12-13, 2007
Theme: Tagore in the Global Community
PROGRAM: October 12
6:00: Reception
6:15: Invocation
6:30: “Tasher Desh” – A play performed by children
7:00: Dinner
8:15: Keynote Speech
“From the Home to the World: On the Ethics of Attachment in a Global Community”
Prof. Patrick Hogan, Department of English, University of Connecticut, Storrs
9:00: Cultural Program
PROGRAM: October 13
2:00: Bengali film and Discussion
7:30: Musical Performance
Suchismita Das with Subrata Bhattacharya (tabla)
Classical songs and songs by Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam
XVIII TAGORE FESTIVAL, 2006
October 21, 2006
Theme: Tagore and Rural Reconstruction
PROGRAM
2:00: Reception
2:30: Invocation: Inaugural Dance
Introduction to the Festival
3:00: Welcome from Channing-Murray Foundation
Dannel McCollum (Mayor of Champaign, 1987-1999)
4:00: Dr. Uma Das Gupta
Keynote Speech, “Scientific Agriculture, Rural Reform and the Tagores: Rabindranath and Rathindranath”
5:00: Intermission
5:30: Cultural Program by ECIBA
Tagore Music and Baul Songs
6:00: Dinner
7:30: Sunil Gangopadhyay
Special Lecture: “Rabindranath”
9:00: Cultural Program by ECIBA
9:30: Closing Song and Remarks
XVII TAGORE FESTIVAL, 2005
October 15, 2005
Theme: Tagore at Home and Abroad
PROGRAM
2:30: Reception
3:00: Invocation – Inaugural Song
A Blueprint for Reinventing Tagorean Performance
Professor Ananda Lal, Jadavpur University
3:30: Musical Performance
Hans Vermeersch and Group, Belgium (link)
Music of Tagore: Confluence of East and West
4:30: Intermission
4:45: Musical Performance
Urbana-Champaign Group
Desh Bidesher Rabindranath: A Musical Exploration
6:00: Talks
- Professor Fred Gottheil, UIUC
Reading Tagore: A Personal Experience
- Ananta Ghosh Chicago
Tagore’s Travelogue
6:30: Dinner
8:00: Musical Performance
Dr. Michael Sczerba, UIUC
A Musical Rendition of Tagore’s Poem “Rain”
8:15: Keynote speech
Dr. Martin Kämpchen, Santiniketan, India (link)
Rabindranath: Read in Bengal and Abroad
9:30: Closing Song and Remarks
XVI TAGORE FESTIVAL, 2004
October 15-16, 2004
Theme: Tagore on Education
PROGRAM: October 15
7:30: Dance Recital by Amita Dutt
Uday Shankar Professor, Department of Dance, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, India
PROGRAM: October 16
6:00: Reception
6:30: Cultural Program
7:00: Dinner
8:45: Keynote Speech
“Tagore’s Thoughts on Education”
By Prof. Amita Dutt
XV TAGORE FESTIVAL, 2003
October 18, 2003
Theme: Gitanjali
PROGRAM
5:00: Reception and Painting Display
5:30: Invocation
5:45: Keynote Speech:
Gitanjali and the Aesthetics of Rabindranath Tagore
A presentation on the evolution of Professor McGinnis’s project, Gitanjali: 103 Small Paintings, and the artist’s ideas on how Tagore’s sense of aesthetics may be applied to the 21st century.
by Mark W. McGinnis; Professor of Art
Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota
6:30: Dinner
Catered Indian dinner provided by Bombay Grill, Champaign, IL
8:00: Cultural Program
“Kotha Chilo,” a presentation of Tagore’s compositions through the performing arts, by Unmesh Surodhwani of Greater Chicago
XIV TAGORE FESTIVAL, 2002
September 20-21, 2002
Theme: Tagore for the 21st Century
PROGRAM: September 20
7:30 pm: Kabuliwallah (The Man from Kabul),
A one-act play by the Bengali Students Association, UIUC
8:00 pm: Sitar Recital by Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee
(co-sponsored by SPICMACAY: Society for the promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture among Youth)
PROGRAM: September 21
6:00 pm: Reception
6:30 pm: Dinner: An elegant sit-down Indian dinner of twelve or more items, catered by the Taj Mahal Restaurant, Bloomington, IL
8:00 pm: Keynote speech:
Tagore’s Poetry: A 21st Century Evaluation
by Professor Emeritus Anjishnu Roy,
University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh
8:45 pm: Cultural Program
XIII TAGORE FESTIVAL, 2001
To be updated soon
Theme: Rabindranath Tagore for the 21st century
PROGRAM:
XII TAGORE FESTIVAL, 2000
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Theme: Translating Tagore