World Harmonium Summit opens with series of solos

Harmonium Duet by Umakanth Puranik and Narasimha Kulkarni, at the inauguration section of 'WORLD HARMONIUM SUMMIT', organised by Bijapure Harmonium Foundation at Krishnadevaraya Kalyana Mantapa, in Bengaluru on Friday. Photo/ B H Shivakumar

The World Harmonium Summit was inaugurated here on Friday.

Hosted by the Bijapure Harmonium Foundation, the first of the three-day festival attracted music lovers from across the city.

The morning session began with a recital by music director Praveen D Rao's group. In the session that followed, Kavya Valiveti, from the US, and Rajendra Vyshampayan played evocative solos on the harmonium.

Carnatic harmonium vidwan R Paramasivan (87) demonstrated how the instrument is used in Kannada theatre music.

Well-known harmonium player Ravindra Gururaj Katoti, based in Bengaluru, is the moving spirit behind the foundation and its annual festivals.

This year, the foundation marks the 100th birth anniversary of its guru and harmonium maestro, Pandit Rambhau Bijapure.

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