Desi Day: Bristol Baithaks: Morning Ragas

A Baithak (‘bair-tak’) is an informal and intimate concert in which raga-based music is performed. This is the first in a series of baithaks in the Southwest to take place throughout 2026 in partnership with ZerOclassikal, The Mehfil Space, Curzon Cinema & Arts, and Arts Council England National Lottery Projects Grants.

Ragas are the melodic foundation of South Asian Classical music traditions. Every raga has a specific mood and association with a time of day. Morning ragas are much more rarely performed in the UK, because concerts are more often programmed in the evening.

Start your day and your weekend with the sensation of tender and reflective morning ragas performed by Dr Pete Yelding on sitar, accompanied by Dhanraj Persaud Pandey on tabla. This session, part of Desi Day – celebrating South Asian culture with a series of events at Arnolfini, will take place in the theatre on the ground floor.

For all ages (children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult)

Venue: Arnolfini, BS1 4QA

For access information visit the venue website

About Pete

Dr Pete Yelding is a sitarist and cellist, and the 7th generation of a family of travelling performers. He is one of only a handful of contemporary musicians to become an exponent of the Hindustani music lineage known as the Lucknow-Shahjahanpur Gharana, headed by his teacher, Ustad Irfan Muhammad Khan.

He establishes in his performances a raw, but tender evocation of whichever raga he is presenting. He seeks to rehabilitate for modern audiences the deeply stirring, heavier sound of past sitar and sarod luminaries.

@peteyelding