Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Aug 11: As a part of Lalit Kala Akademi’s 60th anniversary celebrations, a musical evening was organized at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi, which saw a mesmerizing performance by Santoor Maestro and Music Composer Abhay Rustum Sopori.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Shripad Naik inaugurated the celebrations. The festivities commenced with an exhibition of works of art selected from the collection of the Akademi.
The inaugural function was followed by a musical concert by Santoor Maestro and Music Composer Abhay Rustum Sopori. He commenced his performance with Raga Rageshree, with brief Aalap and Jod followed by a Gat in Ektaal, Bandish “Pholwan Ke Mala” and Sufiana Tarana “Ta Nom Ta Dare Dim Dim” in Teentaal and Gat in Atidrut Teentaal. He was accompanied by Ustad Akram Khan on Tabla.
The solo performance was followed by Abhay’s composition called “Devotional Bliss”, which presented a joyful spirit of Kashmiri culture. The composition started with “Nasar” – which is the opening recitation for a Sufiana Muquam followed by a Lal Wakh, the recitation of Laleshwari, the great Sufi Saint Poetess of Kashmir.
Abhay concluded his performance with a final composition “Irfaan – the Ecstasy” on Santoor. The music ensemble featured about 25 artists: Durjay Bhaumik (Tabla), Rishi Upadhyay (Pakhawaj), Himanshu Bhandari (Percussions), Parveen Sethi (Duff, Darabuka, Deru & Percussions), Vetri Bhupati (Mridangam), Varun Rajasekharan (Gattam), Manish Kumar (Khol & Percussions), Mani Prasad (Nakara), Sundaram (Nagada), Malay Dey (Drums), Abid Hussain (Sarangi), Haminder Soni (Viola & Keyboard), Narendra Rathi (Cello), Akshay Dwivedi (Double Base), Amar Sangam (Guitar & Tenor), Srikant Agasty (Sur Santoor), Poushali Dutta (Tanpura), Nitin Sharma, Aashik Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Rakesh, Leena, Priyanka, Oshin Bhatia and Harsimran Kaur (vocals).
Ravindra Singh (Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI), eminent artist, Krishen Khanna, KK Chakravarty (chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi), Suresh Goel, Pt Bhajan Sopori, Prof Aparna Sopori, Pratibha Prahlad along with other dignitaries were also present.
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