The flute returns home

Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia once said the flute is an instrument belonging to Bangladesh. True, Bangladeshi legend Pt. Pannalal Ghosh transformed flute from folk to classical instrument. Bengal Classical Music Festival 2015 is offering this year the first female flautist Jayaprada Ramamoorthy, the magically versatile music maestro Pt. Ronu Majumdar, having his ancestral roots in Faridpur, Bangladesh, and of course the Lord Krishna of our time, Pt. Chaurasia.  

With a generous call to delving into the realm of melody, the fourth Bengal Classical Music Festival, presented by Square, set off yesterday at Dhaka's Army Stadium. Ahead of their featured performances, several music stalwarts candidly shared their feelings and diverse melodic contemplations with journalists at a press meet at Le Meridian hotel.  

Dr. Jayaprada Ramamoorthy, Pt. Ronu Majumdar, Pt. Kushal Das, Kaushiki Chakraborty and Bangladeshi dancer-choreographer Warda Rihab took part in separate interactive sessions. 

Jayaprada Ramamoorthy introduced an eight finger-hole Carnatic flute (venu) and elaborated on the both North Indian and Carnatic flute and music, while Ronu Majumdar, in almost an-hour long exclusive interview, shared his luminous musical journey. “Blossoming melodic bliss at the altar of soul is my utmost altruistic aesthetic happiness!” he expressed. 

Kaushiki Chakrabarty said that she felt like returning home. “I would like to visit Bangladesh time and again. With your melodic invitations, I would like to perform here in Bangladesh with my newborn baby 'Sakhi' (the first all women's classical band, formed by Kaushiki).” 

Kushal Das, who is currently teaching at Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay, mentioned “The joy knows no bound when an artiste perfectly touches apt melody in their recital. That rarely happens in an artiste's life, when soulful dedication, perseverance, continual practice and a blessing from above culminates into an artiste elevates from the performing aura and connects with the ultimate.”

Performing tonight at the festival
Dhrupad vocals by Avijit Kundu
Saraswati Veena by Jayanthi Kumaresh
Khayal vocals by Susmita Debnath Suchi
Dhrupad vocals by Pt. Uday Bhawalkar
Tabla by Pt. Suresh Talwalkar
Jugalbandi – Carnatic vocals by Dr. Balamuralikrishna and flute by Pt. Ronu Majumdar
Esraj by Shubhayu Sen Majumdar
Khayal vocals by Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty