E-Paper
67th year of Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav will celebrate 100th anniversary of Pt Firoz Dastur, says Shrinivas Joshi
Like every year, we are looking forward to create awareness and maintain the rich cultural heritage of music, says executive president, Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal
In its 67th year, Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav, organised by Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal, will honour and celebrate Pandit Firoz Dastur, senior disciple of Sawai Gandharva. Marking the centenary birth anniversary of Dastur, this year the programme will pay tribute through his disciples vocalist Girish Sanzgiri, senior disciple of Pt Firoz Dastur and Jayanthi Kumaresh (Carnatic style Veena).
Speaking at the conference, Shrinivas Joshi, executive president, Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal, said, “Like every year, we are looking forward to create awareness and maintain the rich cultural heritage of music. The 67th year of the festival will bring together young and senior artistes in varied performances.” This will be the second year when the festival will be held at the Sports Ground of the Maharashtriya Mandal at Mukundnagar.
Joshi added, “The venue is bigger and in a different place, apart from that nothing changes. The feel and vibe of the festival remains the same.”
On December 11, after the tribute to Dastur, vocalist Archana Kanhere, disciple of Pandita Manik Varma will perform followed by pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. On December 12, the show will begin with Kirana Gharana’s Sandip Bhattacharjee, who is a disciple of Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan. Kedia Brothers (Mormukut and Manoj Kedia) from Jharkhand will have a joint performance on the sitar and sarod. Manjiri Karve Alegaonkar from Jaipur Gharana, disciple of Vamanrao Deshpande, will also perform during the festival.
On December 13, audiences will be treated to performances by Dhrupad sisters Amita Sinha Mahapatra, Janhavi Phansalkar and Anuja Borude (pakhwaj). This will be followed by the performances of Viraj Joshi, disciple of pandit Shrinivas Joshi and the grandson of Bharat Ratna pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Ken Zuckerman (sarod). Ken who hails from Switzerland is the disciple of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.
Vocalist Omkarnath Havaldar from Kirana Gharana who is the son of pandit Nagraj Rao Havaldar will be the first artiste to perform on December 14. This will be followed by a joint performance of Tejas Upadhye (violin) and Shakir Khan (sitar). Swami Kripakarananda, from Varanasi, who is a disciple of pandit Jagdish Prasad will perform thereafter.
The fifth day will have Gwalior Gharana’s Atul Khandekar, who is a disciple of Veena Sahasrabuddhe. This will be followed by the performances of Ruchira Kedar (disciple of pandit Ulhas Kashalkar) and Chadrashekhar Vaze (disciple of pandit Firoz Dastur). Sitarist Niladri Kumar will enthral the audiences thereafter.
Artistes who will be performing for the first time at the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav include Sandip Bhattacharjee, Kedia Brothers, Dhrupad Sisters, Viraj Joshi, Omkarnath Havaldar, Tejas Upadhye, SwamiKripakarananda, Rila Hota, Atul Khandekar and Ruchira Kedar.
Highlights
Day 1: December 11: Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia
Day 2: December 12: Pandit Shivkumar Sharma
Day 3: December 13: Pandit Jasraj
Day 4: December 14: Pandit PL Subramaniam
Day 5: December 15: Prabha Atre
Ticket sales
Ticket sales will begin on December 1 at 9 am at Behare Ambewale (Shanipar), Shirish Traders – Bodhani (Kamla Nehru Park), Navdikar Musicals (Kothrud), Abhiruchi Foods (Arnyeshwar – Sahkar Nagar). Tickets can also be booked online at www.esawai.com
