Encore of ragas

Music will be at its best when music maestros specialised in different genres will come together under one roof at Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra’s 69th Shriram Shankarlal Music Festival 2016 which will be held from March 31 to April 3 in the national Capital.

The first day will see a vocal performance by Pt. Dr Nagaraja Rao Havaldar at 7pm, followed by a performance by Dr Ashwini Bhide Deshpande.

Pt. Dr Nagaraj Rao Havaldar is a leading artiste of the kirana gharana. Pt. Havaldar has been a pioneer in popularising the Kannada khayal by adapting Vachanas, literary works of Haridasa and suitable contemporary poetry in Kannada to the traditional khayal form.

Dr Ashwini Bhide Deshpande is an artiste from the intricate Jaipur-Atrauli khayal gayaki tradition. Her early sangeet samskara was complemented by the very systematic training she received from the age of five.

The second day of the festival will see performances by Kaushiki Chakraborty and Pandit M Venkatesh Kumar. Kaushiki Chakraborty could reproduce Hindustani classical vocal patterns at the age of two. Her prowess as a khayal singer is well known, but she is adept at singing other ‘light classical’ genres like thumri, dadra, kajri, chaiti, bhajan etc. 

Kaushiki has recorded many albums and received several prestigious awards, including the Jadubhatta Award, Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Purashkar (Sangeet Natak Academy Award by the government of India) in 2012 and many more.

 Pandit M Venkatesh Kumar, gifted with a robust and vibrant voice, has carved a niche for himself in the field of Hindustani music. He is at present a regular performer on All India Radio and Doordarshan, having presented his art before audiences both in India and abroad, with several recordings to his credit.

The third day of the event will see a sitar performance by Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan followed by a vocal performance by Pandit Ulhas N Kashalkar.

Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan is privileged with both belonging to an illustrious musical family, pushing its boundaries to even greater heights of aesthetic beauty. He has performed in all major musical festivals in India and abroad including the Festival of India held in the US, Europe, USSR, Canada, Middle East, Africa and Australia.

Pandit Ulhas N Kashalkar belongs to a family of musicians and was initially groomed by his father Nagesh Dattatray Kashalkar, a well-known vocalist of Gwalior gharana. Ulhas is one of the prime representatives of Gwalior and Jaipur gharanas, who has earned wide recognition in India and abroad.

On the last day, Ustad Rashid Khan will give a vocal performance at 11am whereas at 7pm, Rakesh Chaurasia will present a flute recitation followed by a vocal performance by Pandit Jasraj.

Ustad Rashid Khan is extremely adept in producing all the other techniques and characteristic features of the Rampur Sahaswan style. His taankari is as powerful and variegated as any of his predecessors and, in fact, amongst the best in the nation at the moment.

Rakesh Chaurasia, who is the nephew and child prodigy of flute maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia has carved a niche for himself as an accomplished flutist.

The Mewati maestro, Pandit Jasraj has been endowed with a rich, soulful and sonorous voice which traverses effortlessly over all three and a half octaves. Pandit Jasraj has won several prestigious awards and honours, including the Padma Vibhushan, Sangeet Kala Ratna and many more.

Founded in 1947, the Shriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra has secured for itself, an unchallenged position as an active propagator of the Indian Classical Performing Arts, mythological, contemporary and folk productions of epics. The Shriram Shankarlal Music Festival, the oldest music festival in the country, has very successfully carried forward the tradition of incorporating a noteworthy synergy of the skills - of the country’s eminent maestros, with the vibrancy of exceptional young talent, without alienating the intrinsic heritage and successfully meeting the challenge of enjoying unabated popularity.