The sounds of music

VIVID NOTES

The event included the felicitation of four renowned musicians, a vocal recital by Rajyashree Ghosh and a tabla performance by 22 artistes. The event commenced with an invocation song by Omkarnath Havaldar.

“This performance, involving 22 tabla players from all over the world, is the first of its kind in Asia. Pandit Samir Chaterjee, the founder of Chandaayan School of Music, was instrumental in conceptualising the event. He has been promoting Indian music in the USA for the last 17 years,” said Nagaraj Havaldar from Sunaada Art Foundation.

Four renowned artistes — Lalitha Ubhayekar, Dr Shyamala G Bhave, Pandit Vinayak Torvi and Pandit Parmeshwar Hegde — were felicitated for their contribution to the field of music. Dr Shyamala G Bhave called Bangalore as the hub of classical performances while Lalitha Ubhayekar said that the young musicians are continuing the guru-shishya parampara effectively.

Later, Rajyashree Ghosh, from Kolkata, took the stage and presented a wonderful Hindustani vocal performance. With her exceptional talent, she presented a traditional composition Jiyo Mero Lal in Raag Shamkalyan. She also presented a bandish in Raag Pancham in her mellifluous voice. She was accompanied by Samir Chaterjee on tabla and Ashwin Walawalkar on harmonium.

The real attraction of the event was Tablaphilia, a musical presentation by the 22 tabla artistes and four young talents —  Piyu Mukharjee, Rajyashree Ghosh, Samarth Nagarkar and Omkarnath Havaldar. In this tabla symphony, composer Samir Chaterjee attempted to convey the relevance of four ashramas of Hindu philosophy — Brahmacharya, Gruhasta, Vanaprasta and Sanyasa — through complex rhythmic patterns.

The vocal performance consisted of chants and other musical formations rendered by Piyu, Rajyashree, Samarth and Omkarnath. The hour-long performance received the appreciation of the audience. The concerts also featured prominent artistes like Dibyarka Chaterjee, Debu Nayak, Benjamin Stewart, Stephan Celluci and Lana Cencic from the USA; Samir Dey, Pradip Mujumdar, Deepak Sarkar, Tapas Dey, Shivnath Chakravarthy, Taritbaran Mujumdar and Rupak Dev Raikat from Kolkata; Shailendra Mishra from Delhi, and M Nagesh, Vikas Naregal, Trilochan Kampli, Uday Kulkarni and Kedarnath Havaldar from Karnataka.