The Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth (SPIC MACAY) and Doordarshan are organising the first reality show on Indian classical music — Naad Bhed.
Apart from this the society is also organising its first international convention at Kolkata later this month which will be inaugurated by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee. SPIC MACAY founder Dr Kiran Seth informed the media about these developments and the decisions taken during the meet of its State advisory board chaired by its head and patron, Uttarakhand Governor Dr Aziz Qureshi on Monday.
Seth said that the aim of organising Naad Bhed is to increase awareness and reinstill pride about Indian classical music among the people in these times of reality talent shows focused on pop music and dance. Regional competitive rounds will be held in 20 regional kendras of Doordarshan with those below 26 years of age and minimum four years of classical music training as on June 30 this year (last date for submitting applications) being eligible to compete with a participation fee of Rs 150. The competition will be held in Hindustani and Carnatic classical music categories with judges comprising stalwarts of classical
music including Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Proft TN Krishnan, Begum Parween Sultana, Vidwan TV Shankarnarayanan, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Vidhushi Vedavalli among others.
The quarter finals will be held at Kolkata for Hindustani classical and at Chennai for Carnatic music. The finals will be hosted by noted actress Shabana Azmi in Mumbai with talks being held with actor Amitabh Bachchan to be the co-host. There will be three awards each in Hindustani and Carnatic music sections for best vocalist, best instrumentalist and best accompanist with Rs two lakh cash award for the winner in each category while one mega winner in both the forms will receive Rs 10 lakh cash award each. Those interested in contesting can get detailed information from the SPIC MACAY website.
Regarding the international convention Seth said that in the past centuries the western civilisation had made great material and technological progress but its progress in the ‘inner domain’ was limited. “Our progress in the inner domain has been great but lack of awareness is diminishing this. The international convention to be held in Kolkata from May 20 to 26 will showcase the traditional arts, music and heritage of India, featuring some icons of India including Girija Devi, Pt Birju Maharaj, Anjolie Ela Menon, Teejan Bai and Prof TN Krishnan among others. More than 1,500 students from India and abroad are expected to experience the Ashram system of living during this convention,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, Governor Aziz Qureshi, chairing the meet of SPIC MACAY’s State advisory board, said that he would write letters to the vice chancellors of universities in the State to establish SPIC MACAY heritage centres and also write a letter to the Ministry of Education to involve the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan with activities of the society.