The historic city of Gwalior, the birthplace of music maestro Tansen, a court musician during the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar in the 16th century, is set to host over 57 Indian and international artistes at the 93rd edition of the Tansen Music Festival that begins on Friday.
Also known as Tansen Sangeet Sammelan, the festival will be held over a span of five days. It will be a blend of Carnatic music, Hindustani classical music and traditional classic music from countries like Sweden, Iran, Brazil and Spain.
While some performances will take place near Tansen’s burial site, which is situated in the Behat region of Madhya Pradesh, other shows will be held at the Gwalior fort.
Organised every year jointly by the Ustad Alauddin Khan Kala Evam Sangeet Academy and the Madhya Pradesh government’s Department of Culture, the fest will kick-start on Thursday with ‘Gamak’, an ornamentation that is used in the performance of Indian classical musical. However, the extravaganza will officially begin on Friday.
Manoj Shrivastava, the Principal Secretary in the Department of Culture, said the experiment of having international artistes as participants in the fest along with their Indian counterparts got “great reviews” when it started two years back.
“It is perhaps the first and the only international music fest in India where we not only celebrate Indian classical music but also have artistes from other nations performing their respective genres and classical music,” Shrivastava told IANS.
“We started this as an experiment and we have got great reviews and encouragement from viewers, so in continuing the journey, we have invited different countries to celebrate the spirit of music, and this cultural amalgamation will take Tansen festival to new heights,” he added.
While musician Shruti Johari, hailing from Chennai, will hold a discussion on ‘Indian Classical Music in Contemporary Era’, Prasanna Rao, known for playing Carnatic music on the guitar, will hold a session on ‘An Effort to Connect Young Generation to Humanity and Ethics’. There will also be a session on ‘Music Therapy’.
“We are trying to make this festival more interesting and informative so that we can spread awareness about our cultural heritage. For that, we have started lectures and discussions in the segment called ‘Vadi Samvadi’. Apart from this, we are giving a platform to encourage next generation musicians in the presence of thousands of music lovers,” said Shrivastava.
Hindustani classical vocalist Ulhas Kashalkar will be honoured with the National Tansen Samman for 2017 at the fest.
The line-up also includes European guitarist Johannes Moller, Belarus’ Maxim Shchedrovitzki on oud and Ben Arie Dagovich, who hails from Greece, on the hang, Brazilian guitarist and vocalist Luiza Sales, pianist Pedro Carneiro Silva from Rio de Janeiro and Iranian musician Fakhroddin Ghaffari on the tombak and daf.
Indian musicians who will enthrall classical music lovers, include dhrupad player Sarda Naad Sangeet Vidhyalaya, tabla players Vinayak Shukla and Vijay Seth, flautist Chetan Joshi, vocalist Pushkar Lele, sarangi player Murad Ali Khan, violinist Ankur Dharkar, and drummer Aditya Dutta.
A photo exhibition on the past editions of Tansen Music Festival will also be held. In addition, musical scripts titled “Dharohar” will be displayed at one of the venues.
(Kishori Sud’s visit is at the invitation of the Madhya Pradesh government. She can be contacted at [email protected])
By Kishori Sud
