Dhwani Academy organized its annual festival, Saaz aur Sur, at Uttam Mancha to pay a tribute to the guru, Gyan Prakash Ghosh. It created a perfect bridge between culture and heritage by featuring a programme with women drummers of Bengal. They presented the different rhythms of Bengal’s folk instrument, the dhak, along with the dancers. The junior students of the academy presented an enjoyable performance of teentaal composed by Abhijit Banerjee. This was followed by a vocal recital by Piu Mukherjee. The latter sang vilambit and drut kheyals in Multani in her well-modulated voice and completed the recital on a light, classical note. She was supported by Debashish Sinha Roy on the harmonium and Jyotirmay Banerjee on the tabla.
The percussion ensemble, led by Abhijit Banerjee on the tabla, featured the shades of aditala with other percussion instruments like the ghatam by Somnath Roy and the sreekhol by Goutam Bhattacharya. B. Rajashekhar’s morsing made this rhythmic conversation thoroughly entertaining. Abhisek Lahiri played Puriya Kalyan on the sarod. His gatkari and well-composed tihais showed his talent and command. Hindole Majumdar assisted him on the tabla.
Guru Vandana, beautifully rendered by Santanu Bhattacharjee, was an appropriate prelude to the performance of the senior vocalist, Ajoy Chakrabarty (picture, left). He presented the Raga Bilasi Todi and continued with a variety of compositions by Gyan Prakash Ghosh, along with the able tabla accompaniment of Abhijit Banerjee. The programme concluded with the Guru Vandana chanting by the artist. Aalor Pathe Raga Dhwani celebrated its annual Gurupranam ritual through shades of Indian classical music in memory of its gurus, Prasun Banerjee and Meera Banerjee, at the Gandhi Bhavan in Jadavpur University (picture, right). The programme showcased budding talents such as Apratim Chatterjee, Mitra Bhattacharyya, Anasua Sen as well as Soham Roychowdhury, who took part in the kheyal and thumri renditions in different ragas and compositions. It appeared to be a perfect platform for the very young performers as it featured the learners as well.
The performance by Nibedita Banerjee, Durba Bhattacharyaa, Bishnupriya Chakraborty and Joyeeta Bhattacharya in the kheyal ensemble in Shyam Kalyan, solos in Bihag and a chorus rendition of dadra in Gara enthralled the audience. These were followed by another engaging performance by the sitarist, Kushal Das, along with the able tabla accompaniment of Abhijit Banerjee. He played Puriya Dhaneshree and elevated the mood of the listeners with his usual expertise.
The Kathak recital of Sreetama Mukherjee — with Sanjay Mukherjee on the tabla, Sumita Mukherjee on bols, Hiranmoy Mitra on harmonium and vocals and Sunando Mukherjee on the sarod — was a visual and artistic treat for the audience.