April is going to be a very exciting month! First, the film will have it’s San Francisco debut at the 2010 San Francisco International Sitar and Tabla Festival. This day-long festival starts up at 8am and along with the screening will feature listening sessions and live performances from some incredible artists.

The film will be shown at 10:00 am and will be followed by a Q&A with me (Andrew Mendelson) immediately afterward. Then at 2pm I will have a sitar performance accompanied by celebrated tabla player, Dr. Michael Lewis. A full roster of is available on the festival flier. For more information about the festival, visit the Sangati Center website. You can order advanced tickets online at Brown Paper Tickets.

Festivities continue on Monday, April 19th at the Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse where sitarist Srinivas Raddy and I will lead a sitar music workshop from 6pm-9pm. Anyone interested in learning more about the instrument and how to play it are encouraged to attend. You can register for the classes on the Freight and Salvage website.

Finally, on Tuesday, April 20th I will host a bonus screening of A Cricket in the Court of Akbar at the Landmark Theaters Opera Plaza Cinema. The screening will start at 8pm and will be followed by a brief Q&A. I hope you can make it!

I’m thrilled to announce the Indian Premiere of A Cricket in the Court of Akbar. It’s a real joy to bring the movie back to the place where it was initially filmed, Jaipur, India. What’s more, many participants from the film will be present, including a very special guest, my Guruji, sitar maestro Pt. Krishna Mohan Bhatt, who will be opening the festivities with a performance of his brand new contemporary composition, Banajaran (The Gypsie Woman). Here are the details:

When: Saturday, November 28th at 6pm
Where: The Indralok Auditorium
Narain Singh Circle, Tonk Road
Opp. City Pulse Mall
Bhattarak Ji Ki Nasiya, Jaipur

The evening will begin with a performance by

Sangeet Guru Pt. Krishna Mohan Bhatt
of his new contemporary composition
Banajaran (The Gypsy Woman)
for sitar, guitar and percussion

There will be a Q&A with yours truly (Andrew Mendelson) immediately following the screening

And best of all, entry is free!

I’m so excited to announce that I’ve been invited to attend the first ever TEDIndia conference, which takes place November 4th-7th, 2009 in Mysore, India. TED, a non profit organization dedicated to “Ideas worth spreading” is a remarkable organization that brings together experts in the fields of technology, entertainment, and design to give riveting talks and present their groundbreaking work. Past TED conferences have featured such luminaries as President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Steven Hawking, Jane Goodall, Richard Branson, Bill Gates and many others. TED offers fellows the chance to attend the conference and join the extraordinary goup of visionaries who make up the TED community. For more information visit the TED Fellowship Program site.

The concert in Philladelphia last Saturday was extraordinary. I was incredibly honored to be able to play with Ustad Tari Khansahib. Many thanks to Aisha Khan, Atif Sheikh, and Ally Adnan of the Twelve Gates Gallery for making this memorable evening possible.

Friday, September 25th-26th, 2009 at the Twelve Gates Gallery

I’m very pleased to announce the Philadelphia Premiere of A Cricket in the Court of Akbar at the Twelve Gates Gallery (see map)! This is the start of a very special weekend of events, with an Indian classical music concert the following day. I will have the great honor of playing with world-renowned tabla maestro, Ustad Abdul Sattar Khan Tari! Also, each ticket to the Saturday concert include one freeadmission to the Friday film screening.

Twelve Gates is an exciting art exhibition space in the heart of Philadelphia’s historic Old City. The gallery specializes in art and media from and about South Asia, and I’m thrilled to bring the film to this exciting venue. For more information and to buy tickets, please visit the Twelve Gates Gallery website. The screening will be followed by a short Q&A with me (Andrew Mendelson).

A Cricket in the Court of Akbar is having it’s European premiere at the Bollywood and Beyond Film Festival in Stuttgart, Germany. The screening is scheduled for Thursday, July 16th at 8:00pm at the SI Centrum (see map). This is Germany’s only Indian film festival and will feature groundbreaking work from and about the subcontinent. Please visit the festival website for tickets and more information about this great festival.

A Cricket in the Court of Akbar premiering in Chicago at the Chicago International Movies and Music Festival. The screening is scheduled for Saturday, March 7th, at 1:30pm at the Chicago Cultural Center (50 W Washington St, see map). Tickets are free (with an $8 suggested donation) and you can reserve yours online today . And please visit the CIMMFest website for more information about thefestival.

A Cricket in the Court of Akbar just screened as part of the Asheville Film Festival in Asheville, North Carolina, and was greeted by a warm Southern reception. For more information about the festival and the screening, check out the Asheville Film Festival website.

A Cricket in the Court of Akbar is having it’s New York premiere as part of the South Asian International Film Festival. The screening is scheduled for Saturday, October 25th, at 9:30pm at the Rubin Museum of Art (see map). Seating is limited so reserve your tickets today online or by phone at 212-347-8787. And please visit the SAIFF website for more information about this great festival.

I’m thrilled to announce that we are having our world premiere at the San Diego Asian Film Festival! The screening date is set for Sunday, October 12th at the UltraStar Mission Valley cinema. You can purchase discounted tickets online here. For those of you in the San Diego area, we hope to see you there! For more information about the festival, visit the SDAFF website.