Bengal Classical Music Fest begins today
The sixth edition of the five-day long Bengal classic musical festival will begin today in the Dhanmondi’s Abahani Playground in the city.
Bengal Foundation, a public trust that started its journey during the late eighties, and has been promoting Bengali culture for years, will organise the event dedicating to the emeritus professor Anisuzzaman.
Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith will be present in the inaugural ceremony as chief guest while cultural affairs minister Asaduzzaman Noor, High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh Harsh Vardhan Shringla, member of the parliament Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, President of the Abahani Playground Salman F Rahman, Director of the Square limited Anjan Choudhury will attend as special guests.
The organisers said “We will include the western classic musical performance alongside sub-continental classic music to extend its appeal to all people from this edition. That’s why we have planned to arrange the event on a bigger platform.”
After the inaugural ceremony, Dr L Subramaniam and the Astana Symphony Philharmonic Orchestra from Kazakhstan, Sarod by Rajrupa Chowdhury, Khayal by Vidushi Padma Talwalkar, Sitar by Firoz Khan, Khayal by Supriya Das, Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay, Flute by Rakesh Chaurasia and Sitar by Purbayan Chatterjee will entertain the classical musical lovers throughout the tonight.
The schedule of the second day (27 December) – Kathak by Aditi Mangaldas Dance Company, Tabla by Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay, Santoor by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Khayal by Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, Sitar by Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan, Dhrupad by Avijiit Kundu, Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay, flute by Pandit Ronu Majumdar and Sarod by Pandit Debojyoti Bose will provide a different flavour to the music lovers.
The third day schedule (28 December) – Sitar by Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay, Ghatam & Kanjeera by Vidwan Vikku Vinayakram and Selvaganesh Vinayakram, Khayal by Govt Music College, Sarod by Abir Hossain, Flute by Gazi Abdul Hakim, Dhrupad by Pandit Uday Bhawalkar, Violin by Vidushi Kala Ramnath, Khayal by Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty will enthrall the audience.
The fourth day (29 December) of the event will present the dance offerings: Manipuri, Bharatnatyam and Kathak, by Sweety Das, Amit Chowdhury, Snata Shahrin, Sudeshna Shyamaprabha, Mehraj Haque TusharTabla by Nilesh Ranadive while Sarod by Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay, Khayal by Ustad Rashid Khan, Sarod by Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar and Violin by Dr Mysore Manjunath, Khayal by Pandit Jasraj, Cello by Saskia Rao de-Haas, Sitar by Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee.
On the last day (December 30) of the event, the audience will enjoy the beautiful performance of Odissi by Vidushi Sujata Mohapatra, Mohan Veena by Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Khayal by Brajeswar Mukherjee, Sitar by Pandit Kushal Das and Kalyanjit Das, Khayal by Pandit Kaivalyakumar, Flute by Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. Bengal has been organising the fest since 2012 aiming to revive the lost heritage of the rich classical music.
In the past five years, the Bengal Classical Music Festival has established itself as the biggest festival of classical music in the world in terms of performance duration and audience: since 2014, the festival duration was increased a day to five nights – running from evening to dawn.
The total number of attendances at the 2016 edition of the festival was nearly 200,000.