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Sawai Gandharva music festival from Dec 11 at the New English school grounds in Ramanbaug
By Sumit Kumar, Section Pune Festival
The 56th edition of the prestigious Sawai Gandharva music festival, organised by the Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal, will have an added flavour this year with Pt Bhimsen Joshi being selected for the Bharat Ratna. The three-day musical extravaganza is scheduled to begin on December 11 at the New English school grounds in Ramanbaug. Organisers, however, refuse to divulge at present what the special element would be.
Festival schedule The festival, which began 55 years ago, has featured some of the biggest names in Indian classical music over the years. Speaking at a press conference in the city on Monday, executive secretary of the Mandal and Joshi's son, Shrinivas Joshi, said, "It is a matter of great pride and joy that Pt Joshi has been honoured with the Bharat Ratna. But there is also a sense of sadness and loss because we do not have Pt Feroz Dastur among us any more." Dastur, who passed away earlier this year after a prolonged illness, was, like the senior Joshi, a disciple of the legendary Sawai Gandharva. Click on "Full Story" for more...
Srinivas said that though Dastur would be missed, an effort would be made to make this year's festival as successful as ever. When asked if Joshi would perform this year, Srinivas said it was entirely up to his father and nothing was decided yet.
"Everyone has been asking us if this year's festival is going to be bigger and grander, but it is already both big and grand. How do we make it even more bigger?" said Shrikant Deshpande, also the executive secretary of the organisation and grandson of Sawai Gandharva. But he added that there would definitely be certain elements to watch out for this time around. Upon being questioned further, Shrinivas said with a laugh that these elements would be disclosed gradually so that people can savour them even more. This year, around ten artistes would be performing for the first time at the festival. These include vocalists Krishnendra Wadikar, Suhas Vyas, Prasad Khaparde, Madhup Mudgal and Madhuri Dandge. "Accomplished Carnatic vocalist Aruna Sairam will also perform at this year's edition. Though I'm looking forward to the other performers as well, she is one person I'm excited about as she is known to sing my father's Marathi `abhangs' in a place like Chennai," Joshi said. Other first-timers at the festival include sitarist Farhan Khan, son of renowned sitarist Ustad Rais Khan, sarod player Tejendra Majumdar, violinists Ganesh and Kumaresh and Kathak dancers and siblings Anuj and Smriti Mishra. Apart from these, the line-up also includes renowned names like vocalists Pt Jasraj, Devaki Pandit, Pt Ajay Chakravarti, Arshad Ali, Malini Rajurkar, Pt Rajan and Pt Sajan Mishra, Vinayak Torvi and Shrinivas Joshi. The other big names include santoor maestro Pt Shivkumar Sharma, shehnai exponent Tukaram Daithankar and flautist Pt Ronu Mujumdar. "The festival will end with a performance by renowned vocalist Prabha Atre. A new feature at this festival is the `Taal Vadya Kacheri' that will see percussionists Akhilesh Gundecha, Anup Singh, Himanshu Mahant, Manoj Singh and sarangi exponent Sarwar Hussain perform together," said Deshpande. The festival will also feature other attractions, including a film festival and a photography exhibition, apart from interactions with some of the musicians. "Joshi being honoured with the Bharat Ratna has made the festival more special. Like last year, we have planned a photography exhibition featuring Joshi over the years this year as well," said Shrirang Godbole, president of Indian Magic Eye, the communications and branding agency that handles the festival.
Source: Times News Network, November-25-2008
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