Dhaka goes classical today
The Army Stadium in the capital will reverberate once again with pristine melodies and rhythms along with the world’s largest gathering of sub-continental classical music-loving souls, as the fifth edition of Bengal Classical Music Festival begins today.
The five-night (November 24-28) grand classical music fiesta — hailed as the largest festival of classical music in the world — will take place from 7:00pm to 5:00am every day. This year’s festival is dedicated to eminent litterateur Syed Shamsul Haq.
At the opening ceremony tonight, Finance Minister AMA Muhith will inaugurate the festival, where Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor will be present as special guest.
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Harshvardhan Shringla, Square Pharmaceuticals MD Tapan Chowdhury and BRAC Bank Ltd MD and CEO Selim RF Hossain will also attend the ceremony.
The five-night fest will see legends of Indian classical music, including Vidushi Girija Devi, Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma, Dr L Subramaniam, Pt Ajoy Chakraborty, Ustad Rashid Khan, Vidushi Madhavai Mudgal and many others perform a wide array of music and dance.
Bangladeshi artistes including Sharmila Banerjee, Munmun Ahmed, Priyanka Gope and students of Parampara Sangeetalay and Dhaka University’s Music Department will also perform on the same stage.
The festival is presented by Square and organised by Bengal Foundation, with support from BRAC Bank. Maasranga TV is the broadcast partner; Ice Business Times is the media partner; Radisson Hotel Dhaka hospitality partner and Square Hospital medical partner.
Blues Communications works as the event management company, with cooperation from Perfect Harmony, Singapore. Bengal Digital, Mango and Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay are also partners of the event.