Jyoshna (Joanne La Trobe) aka Jyosna, Joshna, Jyotsna, is a British born New Zealander Kirtan singer/songwriter and

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

Her stage name comes from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and the meaning is "moonlight".

Biography

Joanne La Trobe, stage name Jyoshna was born in England, 11 August 1956 into a musical family, her parent are named Leslie Essex La Trobe and Toni La Trobe (aka Isobel Burton). The family migrated to Australia then to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1963, which became their home. Jyoshna began composing at an early age and was performing with her band "The Livewires", at Greenmeadows Intermediate School,

Manurewa Manurewa is a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand. It was part of Manukau City before the creation of the Auckland super city in 2010. It is located south of the Manukau, Manukau City Centre, and southeast of Auckland CBD. The subur ...

. Her second band was Turiiya which included Daryn Long (aka Diipali Linwood) and Kim Wesney who performed, composed and recorded together between 1983 and 1990. Since then Jyoshna has gone on as a solo artist and recorded many stunning albums. Jyoshna is always looking for new ways to express and explore music and spirituality from both western and eastern prospective, fusing sounds of traditional Indian music with western sensibility, Taonga Puoro and singer/songwriter styles. Jyoshna's music has taken her to many countries of the world and at each place she has collaborated with local musicians: in India with the Mahato Kiirtan group and the Rarhi

Chhau dance Chhau dance, also spelled Chhou dance, is a semi classical Indian dance with martial and folk traditions. It is found in three styles named after the location where they are performed, i.e. the ''Purulia Chhau'' of West Bengal, the ''Seraikell ...

musicians; in London with the RAWA group; in Vermont USA with local musicians Tina Tourin and friends and in Brazil with Matrika (Cecilia Valentim, Sergio Leone, and Ramon Soza and friends). Her music has featured on Brazilian TV, NRK Norwegian and NZ TV. As an original composer, Jyoshna has authored many albums of both her own, as well as ethnographic material, including ''Red Earth Song'' (1996), ''Magnificence'' (2001) and ''Unity Hours I (2008), Unity Hours II'' (2010), Unity Hours III (2019), Unity Hours (2022). Jyoshna has composed music for the New Zealand feature film ''Stars in Her Eyes'' (2016, Dir. by Athina Tsoulis) and completed a new album called ''Dharma Cakra,

songs for

Meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

''. Jyoshna is presently working as an itinerant lecturer, music teacher and composer at

Bethells Beach Te Henga, or Bethells Beach, is a coastal community in West Auckland, New Zealand. The Māori name for the area, "Te Henga", is in reference to the long foredunes which run along the beach and look like the or gunwale of an upturned waka hull. ...

in Auckland. Her other passion is ethnomusicology, and in 2010 she completed her PhD in music, at the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

(SOAS), University of London on "Marai Kirtan and the Performance of Ecstasy in the Purulia District of West Bengal, India". Jyoshna's research focuses on the 'praise music of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

(

Rarh Rarh region () is a toponym for an area in the Indian subcontinent that lies between the Chota Nagpur Plateau on the West and the Ganges Delta on the East. Although the boundaries of the region have been defined differently according to various ...

), India, as well as Maori and indigenous people's music. She also has her own collection of audio visual material housed at the World Music Archives,

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

(C1211).

Kirtan

As a musician and ethnomusicologist of eastern devotional singing,

kirtan Kirtana ( sa, कीर्तन; ), also rendered as Kirtan, is a Sanskrit word that means "narrating, reciting, telling, describing" of an idea or story, specifically in Indian religions. It also refers to a genre of religious performance arts ...

plays a major role in La Trobe's musical and academic career. Many of her music compositions are ''pada kirtan'' or 'devotional songs' and ''nama kirtan'' or "chanting the name of God". Her research into the background of kirtan led her to Rarh, India, the homeland of the Giita Govinda by

Jayadeva Jayadeva (; born ), also spelt Jaideva, was a Sanskrit poet during the 12th century. He is most known for his epic poem ''Gita Govinda'' which concentrates on Krishna's love with the '' gopi'', Radha, in a rite of spring. This poem, which presen ...

(11th century) where she spent 2005–2010 documenting the traditional kirtan performances. Her own kirtan compositions are a blend of western singer/songwriter genres and Rarh devotional music.

Rarhology

Dr Jyoshna La Trobe's pioneering research work on the music culture of

(1996–2010) is documented in her Masters Thesis ''Red Earth: the Music Culture of Rarh'' (

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

) and her PhD ''Red Earth Song: marai kirtan and the performance of Ecstasy'' at the

(SOAS), London. Over 120 hours of audio visual material is deposited in the British Library World music Sound Archives in her catalogue called the La Trobe Rarhi Music Collection. Music genres of Rarh covered in the PhD include:

jhumur Jhumair or Jhumar is an Indian folk dance from the Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and West Bengal. It is folk dance of Sadan, the Indo-Aryan ethnic groups of Chotanagpur. It is mainly performed during harvest season. ...

'folk songs',

Baul The Baul ( bn, বাউল) are a group of mystic minstrels of mixed elements of Sufism, Vaishnavism and Tantra from Bangladesh and the neighboring Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley and Meghalaya. Bauls constitut ...

'mystic songs', ''nacini nach'' 'dancing girls dance' and the Chhau 'masked martial dance of the ancient warrior' as well as a musical analysis and transcriptions of ''marai kirtan'' 'praise music' performance. Video footage also includes

Prabhat Samgiita Prabháta Saḿgiita (Bengali: প্রভাত সঙ্গীত ''Probhat Shongit'', ), also known as Songs of a New Dawn or Prabhat's Songs, are the collection of songs composed by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar. Sarkar composed a total of 5,018 songs ...

('songs of the new dawn'), composed by

P. R. Sarkar Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (21 May 1921 – 21 October 1990), also known by his spiritual name Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti (Ánanda Múrti="Bliss Embodiment"), and known as Bábá ("Father") to his disciples, was a spiritual Guru, philosopher, so ...

Selected discography

Solo albums

*2014 ''Dharma Cakra'', HPMGL Studio, Auckland, NZ, Innersong USA *2012 ''Live in Brazil'', Innersong USA *2010 ''Unity Hours II'', Sky Studios, London, Innersong USA *2007 ''Red Earth Fusion'', Innersong, USA *2006 ''Unity Hours I'', Sky TV Studio, London, Innersong USA *2004 ''Reddish Blossom'', songs inspired by Prabhat Samgiit, Bengali love songs, Innersong, USA *2001 ''Era Dynamic'',* MoreFm Studios, Auckland, NZ, Innersong USA *2001 ''Magnificence'', Outback Studio, Auckland, INnersong USA. *1999 ''Dancing Divinity'', Acoustic Wave, Auckland, NZ, Innersong USA. *1997 ''Longing'',* Q Studio, More Fm Studios Auckland, and Q Studios, Australia, Innersong USA *1996 ''Sounds of Silence'',* More Fm Studio, Auckland, NZ, Innersong, USA *1993 ''Touched by the Sea'',* Innersong, USA. *1993 ''Beloved'', Innersong, USA. *1991 ''Reign of Love'', Acoustic Wave Records, Auckland, NZ.

Group albums

*2002 ''Lotus Beat'', with EastranzWest, Visitors Records, NZ. *1989 ''Waiting – the Album'' with Turiiya,

Jayrem Records Jayrem Records is a New Zealand record company founded by James ('Jim') Moss in 1975 under the name Record and Cassette Distribution. Moss changed the name to Jayrem Records in 1981 and released the first singles on that label in 1982. Moss state ...

, Wellington, NZ *1987 ''Daughters of the Flame'', Harlequin Studios, Auckland, NZ 8 *1986 with

From Scratch From scratch may refer to: Radio and television * ''From Scratch'' (radio), an American National Public Radio series about "the entrepreneurial life" * ''From Scratch'' (TV series), a 2022 Netflix original series * "From Scratch", a 2006 epis ...

– ''Pacific 3,2,1,Zero Part 1 and 2 Live'', with

Philip Dadson Philip Dadson (born 1946 in Napier, New Zealand) is a New Zealand musician and artist, who was in the foundation group for the Scratch Orchestra and founder of From Scratch. He lectured at the Elam School of Fine Arts, part of the University ...

Don McGlashan Donald McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who Is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for ci ...

kiirtan Kirtana ( sa, कीर्तन; ), also rendered as Kirtan, is a Sanskrit word that means "narrating, reciting, telling, describing" of an idea or story, specifically in Indian religions. It also refers to a genre of religious performance art ...

recordings

Selected publications

;Articles *1997 "Red Earth – The Music Culture of Rarh, India". Unpublished MA,

. *2000 ''Probe Magazine'', Issue 2. Ancient patterns and Contemporary Expressions,

Manukau Institute of Technology Established in 1970, Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) ( mi, Te Whare Takiura o Manukau) is a large Category One institute of technology in Auckland, New Zealand. Category One is the highest possible educational rating as evaluated by the ...

, Art SchoolPress, Auckland. Pg 16–21. *2010 ''Gurukul Network'' Issue 31, "The Supra-aesthetic Science of Kiirtan", pg. 16–20. *2010 "Marai kirtan and the performance of ecstasy in Purulia", West Bengal, India. Unpublished PhD.

References and selected reviews

*Uniao TV Channel, Presentation/live and studio concert of her music with over a million viewers, Brasília, Brazil, 12 August 2011. *

NRK1 NRK1 (pronounced as ''"NRK en"'' or ''"- ein"'') is the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation's (NRK) main television channel. History Test broadcasts started on 12 January 1954, regular test broadcasts started on 13 April 1958 and regular broadca ...

Television, ''Perspectiv'', Norwegian TV Documentary on her music in London, April and November 2010. *Robert Allen, "Unity Hours Review", The Rock Society, June/July 2008. *

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

TV Norwegian TV Documentary, Perspectiv, Nov 2006. *Graham Reid, "Magnificence by Joshna", ''

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'', 10 March 2001 *

Nick Bollinger The Windy City Strugglers are one of New Zealand's most enduring blues bands. Their music is based on the singing, songwriting, and guitar playing of Bill Lake, and the vocals of Rick Bryant. Their long-serving band members are Andrew Delahunt ...

"Joshna, Magnificence", ''

NZ Listener New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country b ...

'', 10 February 2001, p. 35 *Jennifer Shennan "Leaping Lizards", ''Listener'', 21 April 2001 p. 55

External links

* {{official, http://www.jyoshna.com/jyoshna 1956 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) English women singer-songwriters Alumni of SOAS University of London Kirtan performers English emigrants to New Zealand