1 Mar : As in the past 40 years, the Pracheen Kala Kendra is all set again to treat classical music and dance lovers with splendid and exhilarating performances of artists of repute during the three-day festival of music and dance. Named after the inimitable music maestro Gayanacharya Bhaskarbua Bhakhle, the 41st All-India Bhaskar Rao Nritya and Sangeet Sammelan will be held at Tagore Theatre, Sector 18, Chandigarh from March 4 to March 6, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. daily.
Several distinguished persons will grace the occasion on all the three days, including Shri M.P. Singh, IAS, Secretary to Governor of Punjab and Administrator UT Chandigarh (Chief Guest on March 4), Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal, Union Cabinet Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Science and Technology and Earth Sciences (Chief Guest on March 5) while Shri Ram Niwas, IAS, Home Secretary, Chandigarh Administration will be the Chief Guest on the concluding day.
The Sammelan which is hailed as one of the oldest and prestigious music and dance festivals of its kind in the country is the Kendra’s homage to Bhaskarbua Bakhle offered uninterruptedly since 1969.
This year too, as in the past, the Kendra is bringing some of the internationally acclaimed artists to perform during the festival. Leading the pack is Mumbai-based Vocalist Begum Parveen Sultana who is scheduled to open the inaugural evening with her Vocal Recital. Hailed as one of the foremost and top ranking vocalists of our times, Parveen Sultana occupies a place of pride in the realm of classical music. She possesses a matchless voice covering nearly 4 octaves coupled with incredible virtuosity, tonal clarity and purity of notes. She has come to be crowned by the audiences at home and abroad as the “Melody Queen”.
On the second day Kathak stalwart Sh. Deepak Maharaj will mesmerize the city audience with his Solo Kathak recital. Younger son of Kathak legend Pandit Birju Maharaj, he is carrying forward a great tradition of Kalka-Bindadin Gharana (Lucknow Gharana). He is a shining star in the art scene depicting excellence in various departments of Kathak dancing. While deeply routed in tradition, Deepak has evolved his own individual style without forsaking the core principles of Kathak.
A dance troupe led by Kathak wizard Pandit Jaikishan Maharaj, son of Pandit Birju Maharaj, will present “Kramsha” dance item in Kathak style as the second performance on March 5. Jaikishan is an exceptionally gifted dancer and choreographer. He has an excellent sense of Tala and Laya and his performance stands out for its vigor and rhythm accentuated by the clarity of footwork and proficiency in layakari.
Versatile Sitarist Ustad Shujaat Husain Khan will provide the befitting grand finale to the mega event on the concluding evening. Son and disciple of Sitar maestro late Ustad Vilayat Khan, Shujaat Khan is a gifted musician who held the audiences captive under the magic spell of his hypnotic melodies for more than four decades now. He has developed his own unique style further extending the gayaki ang of Sitar. His fingers moves on sitar with such velvety sweetness, clarity and speed which take the listeners into the deep reservoir of classical music.
The Kendra has also taken care to choose some illustrious musicians as accompanists to accompany artistes on all the three days. They include Srinivas Acharya and Mithilesh Kumar Khan who will provide accompaniment on Harmonium and Tabla respectively to Parveen Sultana. Inimitable Tabla maestro Sudhir Pandey and noted percussionist Arunangshu Chaudhury would accompany Ustad Shujaat Khan on Tabla.
All are welcome to relish the grand musical feast organized by the Kendra.
Since its start in 1969, almost all the leading luminaries from the field of classical dance and music have had the occasion to be part of the annual Bhaskar Rao Nritya and Sangeet Sammelan. This is evident from the participation of Pt. Vinayak Rao Pattwardhan, Pt. Vinayak Rao Vyas, Ustad Bade Mubarak Ali Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pt. Chaturlal, Pt. Markandeya Mohapatra, Pt. Husan Lal & Pt. Bhagat Ram, Sardar Sohan Singh, Pandit Dilip Chandra Vedi, Pandit A. Kanan, Smt. Malavika Kanan, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Pandit Jasraj, Guru Girija Devi, Begum Parveen Sultana, Guru Shobha Gurtu, Dr. Prabha Atre, Pandit Rajan-Sajan Mishra, Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty, Ustad Rashid Khan, Dr. Sharayu Kalekar, Smt. Sulochana Brahaspati, Vidushi Shubha Mudgal, Pandit Kishan Maharaj, Pandit Ram Narayan, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pandit Debu Chaudhary, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Pt. Kumar Bose, Guru Pankaj Charan Das, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Guru Sanjukta Panigrahi, Guru Sonal Mansingh, Guru Kumkum Mohanty, Sri Ratikant Mohapatra, Pandit Durga Lal, Guru Shambhu Maharaj, Guru Sunder Prasad, Guru Gopi Krishan, Guru Kundan Lal Gangani, Guru Sitara Devi, Guru Uma Sharma, Guru Shovana Narayan, Guru Shobha Koser, Guru Raja-Radha Reddy, Guru Swapanasundri, Guru Daksha Seth, Guru Saroja Vaidyanathan, Mrs. Mamata Shankar, Guru Rani Karna and Guru Kiran Segal to name just a few from the long list of truly top grade vocalists, instrumentalists and dancers.