Dhaka to witness the biggest names in Indian classical music

(From left): Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan, Pt. Ulhas Kasalkar, Ravi Mathur, Abul Khair, Syed Fahim Munaim, Abdul Qayyum Mukul, Sadya Afreen Mallick and Luva Nahid Chowdhury at the press conference. Photo Courtesy: Bengal Foundation

A four-day long grand classical music festival will be organised by Bengal Foundation and ITC-Sangeet Research Academy (SRA). The festival will kick off on November 29 at Army Stadium in the capital.
The festival has been dedicated to Sangeet Samrat Ustad Allauddin Khan. Performances on the first two days (November 29-30) of the festival will start at 6 pm and will continue till 4 am the next day. On the next two days (December 1-2), performances will start at 6 pm and continue till 12 am. To attend the festival, music connoisseurs, enthusiasts or lovers of classical music have to register their names -- free of cost -- either on the internet or at Bengal Gallery (Dhanmondi), Bengal Centre (Uttara), Aranya (Banani), Bengal Art Lounge (Gulshan).
The online registration will start next month. For queries related to registration, log on to www.bengalfoundation.org and www.facebook.com/bfmusicfest.
Both classical vocal and instrumental music along with classical dance will be performed at the festival. Eminent artistes from Kolkata ITC-Sangeet Research Academy, including Padma Bhushan Vidushi Girija Devi, Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Ustad Rashid Khan, Padma Shri Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan, Pandit Rajan Mishra, Pandit Sajan Mishra, Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan, Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain Khan, Pandit Kumar Bose, Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, Sujata Mohapatra, Alarmel Valli, Buddhadev Das Gupta, Purbayan Chatterjee, Kaushiki Desikan and others will perform at the festival.
Sarod artiste Ustad Shahadat Hossain Khan, grandson of Ustad Ayet Ali Khan (brother of Ustad Allauddin Khan), will perform at the festival. Accomplished vocalist and a lecturer at the Department of Music, Dhaka University, Priyanka Gope and noted sitarist Alif Laila and others will also perform at the festival.
A press conference was held yesterday in this regard, at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.
“Observing the history of last 150 years of Bangladesh, we notice many of the brightest patrons of classical music. The names of many pioneering classical music maestros, including Ustad Allauddin Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ayet Ali Khan and Ustad Belayet Khan are attached to Bangladesh. The heritage of Bangladeshi music is very opulent; though it is unknown to some. Such a grand festival can play a key role in generating interest among all,” said Luva Nahid Chowdhury, director general of Bengal Foundation.
Ravi Mathur, executive director of ITC-SRA, outlined the legacy of his organisation that was founded in 1977. “ITC-SRA is a public trust exclusively funded by ITC. We are going to propagate music of this sub-continent through this festival. It is also an exchange of music too; through which artistes of India will perform in festivals in Bangladesh and vice-versa.”
Welcoming the initiative, Pandit Ulhas Kasalkar, teacher at ITC-SRA, said, “The heritage of both Bangladeshi and Indian music is identical. Many Bangladeshi maestros have contributed significantly to the parampara of Hindustani classical music. It is really a matter of great pride that such a mega festival is going to take place in the birthplace of those maestros.”
Quoting a verse, “Poetry and music form a gateway to Divinity” (by renowned Sufi sage Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi), Sadya Afreen Mallick, editor of Arts & Entertainment, The Daily Star, said, “Classical music, the base of all music, would get a boost in Bangladesh through such events.”
“Apart from the upcoming grand festival, we have been regularly arranging bi-monthly classical music recitals under the title 'Mayar Madhuri', starting from February this year. ITC-SRA gurus and scholars with noted Bangladeshi artistes perform at these recitals held both in Dhaka and outside Dhaka. To uphold the musical heritage of Bangladesh, we are going to organise for the first time, a five-daylong (December 20-24, 2012) Bengali Cultural Festival at ITC-SRA premises, in Kolkata, India where 50 Bangladeshi artistes will perform. We have planned to run a Parampara Classical Music Academy from next February in Bangladesh where six eminent gurus who will teach the young talents taking lien from ITC-SRA. Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan will be the principal of the school,” said Abul Khair, chairman of Bengal Foundation.
In a bid to popularise the heritage of classical music, Bengal Foundation has joined hands with ITC-SRA in organising the festival. The Bangla daily Prothom Alo is the strategic partner of the event. The Daily Star is assisting the festival. Maasranga Television is the telecast partner while abc radio is the broadcast partner of the festival. Ice Media Limited is the media partner of the festival.