Flautist Rakesh Chaurasia to perform at 2nd 'Songs of the Stone' at Qutub Minar

New Delhi, Mar 3 (PTI) Grammy award-winning flautist Rakesh Chaurasia and ensemble, known as Rakesh and Friends, will present a musical performance against the backdrop of the Qutub Minar on March 8 as part of the 'Songs of the Stone' after-dark musical series.

Bringing together heritage, music, and contemporary cultural curation, the immersive cultural series by Inkpot India will seek to transform the UNESCO World Heritage monument into a living stage of sound and story.

“India has an extraordinary wealth of culture, tradition, and heritage, yet in our globalised lives, much of it gets quietly overlooked. Living so closely with beauty, we sometimes stop seeing it; familiarity has a way of flattening wonder.

"'Songs of the Stone 'comes from my desire to make these spaces and cultural practices feel emotionally relevant again, especially for younger audiences. When people experience heritage rather than simply observe it, something stays with them. And when there is participation, culture doesn’t need preservation," Simar Malhotra, founder Inkpot India, said in a statement.

Known for his lyrical depth and refined technique on the bansuri, Chaurasia carries forward the legacy of his guru and uncle, the legendary Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, while pushing the instrument into new global and contemporary soundscapes.

Joined by an ensemble of acclaimed musicians on tabla, drums, bass, guitar, and keys, the performance will "weave together Hindustani classical traditions with global musical influences, creating a sonic experience that resonates across generations".

Chaurasia will be accompanied by Gino Banks on drums, Satyajit Talwalkar on tabla, Sheldon D’Silva on bass guitar, Sanjoy Das on guitar, and Sangeet Haldipur on vocals and keyboard.

"'Songs of the Stone' is a curatorial series that places music in direct dialogue with India’s architectural heritage. The project emerges from the belief that monuments are not inert structures or static relics, but repositories of memory, imagination, and lived histories," the organisers said.

The first edition of "Songs of the Stone" on December 13, 2025, witnessed a performance by sitar virtuoso Mehtab Ali Niazi, along with a discussion by writer-curator Eric Chopra on the layered histories of the Qutub complex and the Mehrauli landscape. PTI MAH MAH MAH