Classical music festival celebrates spring

The 11th edition of the Bharatiya Samagana Sabha’s music festival will see Carnatic, Hindustani performers

The Bharatiya Samagana Sabha is a confluence of music enthusiasts and connoisseurs of music.

R R Ravishankar, the founder chairman and managing trustee, says that they are a group of people who believe in “good music, good vibrations and good friends”. The Sabha conducts an annual festival to promote and popularise classical music and up and coming artists.

This year marks the 11th year of the festival. “Every year we conduct the festival according to a theme. This year the theme is the spring festival of Vasant Panchami,” he says.

The festival is usually celebrated in the northern parts of the country and Ravishankar hopes that choosing such a theme for a festival in the south will contribute to uniting different cultures.

The five day festival, that begins on January 29, will see a variety of performances, celebrating both Carnatic and Hindustani classical music and even a convergence of the two.

The festival will be opened by YouTube sensation Sooryagayatri. The 13 year old girl, widely known for her rendition of the Hanuman Chalisa will be performing classical Bhajans.

Every year they present a music therapy raga concert. This time it is centred around controlling and regulating anger. The concert will be a Carnatic violin solo by Ambi Subramaniam.

Other renowned artistes include Marathi playback singer Aarya Ambekar, Jayanthi Kumaresh, Ranjani Gayatri and more.

“While people can access young artistes like Soorya online, the energy you get when they perform live is completely different. You understand the tension the artiste is going through and they also understand the audience and perform accordingly. Live music becomes a dialogue,” he says.

The sabha also presents their annual award — the Samagana Mathanga National Award. This year the Grammy winning veena artiste Vishwa Mohan Bhatt is the recipient. The award ceremony is on the last day of festival.

The Vasanth Panchami Sangeethotsav will take place from January 29 to February 2. 500 seats are available at the venue for free on a first-come-first-serve basis. Tickets are also available on Bookmyshow from Rs 750 onwards, if you want a guaranteed seat. The event will take place from 5 pm everyday at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Malleswaram.