Some months ago, when Dr Suvarnalata Rao, head of Indian music programming at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), began planning an Indian classical music programme, she wanted to take it beyond artistes singing ragas. “It is great for someone like me, who is into classical music, but I wondered what more I could do with it,” says Dr Rao, who is a musicologist, too.

Thus, NCPA Tata Capital Bandish was born. On July 6, Indian classical and semi-classical greats – including Girija Devi, Sudha Raghunathan and Ajoy Chakrabarty – will sing iconic compositions by some of India’s legendary composers. A bandish is a classical composition set in a specific raga and is often accompanied by a tabla and a percussion instrument. In a bandish, a performer often infuses his/ her own creativity in the original composition.