A classical performance by music maestros

It's that time of the year again when legendary musical maestros are slated to perform at one of India's oldest music festivals – Shriram Shankarlal Music Festival 2017 – that is almost as old as Independent India. The Shriram Shankarlal Music Festival has been curated by Padmashree Shobha Deepak Singh, festival director and vice-chairperson of Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra (SBKK) and will be held in the SBKK lawns from March 30 to April 2, from 7 pm to 10:30 pm.

The four day festival will kickstart with a vocal performance by the doyenne of Hindustani music Girjia Devi followed by vocals by Ajoy Chakraborty. Other participating artists are Manjiri Asanare (vocal), Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma (instrumental on santoor), Biswajit Roy Chowdhury (instrumental on sarod), Rashid Khan (vocal); Purbayan Chatterjee (instrumental on sitar) and the grand finale on April 2 will be by none other than Pandit Jasraj.

"This is the 70th edition of the festival and, after many years, we are hosting it in open air in the lawns of SBKK. In its nascent years, it was only the senior artists who were part of the festival, but now, we make special effort to include younger talent as well. Contrary to popular belief that classical music is losing its audience base, the success of the festival year after year proves that there is not only a discerning audience for classical music but also that classical music retains its unique position on Indian arts," says Shobha Deepak Singh.

The festival which began as a small concert with an informal gathering of musicians at Sumitra Charat Ram's (the founder-patron of SBKK) house at Delhi's Curzon Road has now become a forum for the talented youth alongside the most authentic traditional musicians.

Keeping in mind the season and the spirit of festivity, the artists are slated to perform songs around Holi, Chaiti, Kajri, dadra and Ram bhajans.