Birth centenary of V Balsara to be celebrated

kolkata: Legendary music maestro V Balsara's birth centenary will be celebrated in the city. As part of the celebrations, an awards ceremony and a gala musical programme will be held on June 22 at Rabindra Sadan. The event will be organised by the V Balsara Memorial Committee and Calcutta United Cultural Society. According to reports, the programme will be presided over by renowned instrumental player Pratap Roy.

As per sources, Minister Arup Roy will be the chief guest of the event. Veteran music composer Kalyan Sen Barat, singers Usha Uthup, Shibaji Chattopadhyay, Dipankar Chattopadhyay and musician Pandit Swapan Sen are also likely to attend the event as special guests.

Balsara, who was greatly influenced by western music, had passed away after a long fight against larynx cancer at the age of 83. He had learnt to play the piano from Hildafield, a German musician. He had composed for a number of Hindi and Bengali films.