Showcasing three major Indian classical music traditions, the stage is set for a three-day annual National Music Festival at the Rabindra Mandap here commencing on Tuesday. The event, one of the very few music festivals of its kind in Odisha, is being hosted by the six-decade-old Bhubaneswar Music Circle (BMC).
“For the past 25 years, the BMC has been hosting monthly and annual music concerts regularly for the public in the city and our annual festival happens to be the most awaited affair by the music connoisseurs of the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. A galaxy of stalwarts of Indian music have performed in our festivals over the years. Besides Hindustani and Carnatic music, we have offered thrust on propagation of Odishi music as a unique Indian classical music tradition. Hence, Odishi music has been a regular feature in our festivals every year,” elaborated BMC general secretary Khirod Patnaik.
The inaugural evening would feature two veteran vocalists from Kolkata – Pandit Tushar Dutta and Vidushi Anjana Nath. A top-grade artiste of All India Radio, Tushar Dutta, who has performed in several music conferences in India and abroad, has over 50 recorded discs to his credit. Besides, he has lent his voice as a playback singer for Bengali cinema and television serials. Similarly, Anjana Nath, whose thumri, dadra and semi-classical musical genres have been in demand, is a well-known artiste of the Patiala Gharana which owes its origin to Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. She was trained by some of the stalwarts like Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty and was a scholar at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata.
The second evening would showcase two fabulous duet concerts by four young and dynamic artistes of India. The first pair would be of Odisha’s accomplished instrumentalists – Sandip Rout and Jabahar Mishra in a jugalbandi of sarod and flute in Hindustani music segment. Both serving as faculty members of the Department of Music at Utkal University of Culture, Sandip is known as a popular tabla player who has equal mastery over sarod. Jabahar is acknowledged as a soloist and as an accompanying artiste to a number of stalwarts of Odishi dance. The second presentation of the evening would be by Chennai-based Carnatic vocalists Anahita and Apoorva Ravindran who have made a niche for themselves in music circles.
The third and final evening of the event would feature solo Odishi vocal recital by Achyuta Moharana of Puri followed by Hindustani vocal recital by Vidushi Kalapini Komkali, widely recognized as one of the finest classical vocalists of the younger generation. She is the daughter and disciple of legendary Pandit Kumar Gandharva while her mother has been veteran musician Vidushi Vasundhara Komkali. Committed to the cause of music, she hosts music festivals in her hometown of Dewas in Madhya Pradesh.