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The Hindu : Canadian flautist Catherine Potter does not want to call her music Indian. Says the bansuri-player, who performed as part of the Duniya Project at the Eleventh East West Dance and Music Encounter by the Bangalore School of Music: “I would prefer to call it contemporary Canadian music as it reflects the inter-culturalism of where I come from – Montreal.”A student of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Catherine is trained in Western classical music, jazz, Persian, Arabian, West-African, Balinese in the Gamelan orchestra and Hindustani classical music. She was eight years old when she started off on her grandmother’s grand piano. “I was just punching around keys before I started formal training and moved on to a simple flute.”An M.A. in Ethnomusicology and a B.F.A. in Jazz Studies, Catherine always felt drawn towards India. “I had the intention of coming to India when I was in my 20s, and started with South East Asia, before India became my destination.”She learnt the basics of Indian classical music in Benares before she met Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. “It was in Amsterdam that I met him and asked him to help me find a teacher. He asked me to meet him the next day and volunteered to be my teacher!”She discovered that Hindustani classic music has a rich oral tradition. “It was all about imbibing the music, which is a long process. I learnt a great deal when I accompanied him on concerts and performed with him on the stage.” “Indian classical music is never-ending. It is about getting a good grasp and not grabbing what you need.” She finds that each performance is in itself an improvement, an artistic expression of who she is. “It is a complete and a very high art form.”If Western classical music has evolved greatly over time, Hindustani is more individual – about personal expressions.“Western classical music is like museum pieces, but the Indian classical music…More