Bangladeshi singers Rahul Ananda and Kanak Aditya brought the music of their homeland to life on a Sydney stage last Sunday, performing selections from the folk‑rooted ensemble Joler Gaan before a diverse crowd of expatriates and local arts patrons.
The concert at the Bryan Brown Theatre in Bankstown, Australia was presented as part of a cultural tour and served as a rare cross‑cultural exchange for South Asian sounds in the Australian music scene.
Among the guests was Wendy Matthews, the Canadian‑born Australian vocalist known for a long career and multiple ARIA Awards. Invited on stage by Ananda, Matthews told the audience she could not understand the language but felt the earthy resonance of the music. She then offered an impromptu vocal interpretation of the traditional folk piece “Quiet Joys of Brotherhood”, a song popular in folk circles, responding to the melody of Ananda’s flute. The performance drew appreciative silence from the audience.
Joler Gaan, formed in 2006 and based in Dhaka, has long fused traditional Bangla folk instruments with contemporary sensibilities. Ananda, one of its core founders, performed alongside Kanak Aditya, a former member of the ensemble, in a lineup that also featured Sydney‑based collaborators.
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Local musicians contributed to the set: Tanvir Ahsan and Amit Das (guitar and cajón) of Rock Cassette, percussionist Lintas Perera on dhol, Namid Farhan from the rock band Charu reinforcing rhythm textures, and Rahman Ray on kartal.
As evening light faded, the theatre filled with the layered sound of flute, shankha, khanjani and percussion—evoking the rivers, fields and rhythms of rural Bangladesh.
The Sydney show also featured the first public performance of a new Joler Gaan piece titled “Jhukkur Jhuk”.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, Kanak Aditya described the reception across the Australian leg of the tour. “We’ve taken parts of Joler Gaan to four cities, sharing songs, stories and conversations. The response has been truly moving. Sydney’s audience made this night especially memorable.”
The concert was organised as part of the launch of Chander Haat, a social and welfare organisation advocating for the rights and wellbeing of international students and migrants. Organiser Fahad Asmar said the event was crowd-funded and that proceeds would support community outreach and welfare projects. “Music and art allow us to connect with people beyond language. That’s the core of what we want to achieve,” he said.
Among the audience, Purabi Paromita Bose described the emotional impact of the performance: “In the mechanical rhythm of life abroad, Rahul Ananda’s flute was like a sudden rainfall—it reached straight to the heart.”
