A mix of old and new at 62nd Sawai Gandharva

PUNE: More than 25 artistes, including vocalists, instrumentalists and dancers, will perform in the 62nd Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav, which will start on December 11 on the New English School, Ramanbaug, premises.
Music legends such as Santoor maestro Shivkumar Sharma, vocalists Pandit Jasraj, Malini Rajurkar, Ulhas Kashalkar and Prabha Atre, and Bharatnatyam exponent Sucheta Bhide-Chapekar will be among those performing at the festival.As many as 10 artistes will perform in the festival for the first time, including playback singer Suresh Wadkar.
Shriniwas Joshi, son of the late Bhimsen Joshi and executive president of festival organizer Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal, told reporters that the event will have five sessions over four days, including a morning session on December 14, the concluding day. The festival will see experienced and first-time performers engage audience of all ages, Joshi said.
The performances will be held between 3.30pm and 10pm on the first three days. On the last day, the morning session will be from 8am to noon. The evening session will start at 4pm and may conclude by midnight, he said.
Joshi said the festival will open with a 'Sundri' recital by young artiste Bhimanna Jadhav. Bhimanna will be performing for the first time in the festival, followed by another first-timer, vocalist Saniya Patankar. Brothers Diwakar and Prabhakar Kashyap of the Banaras gharana will follow her. Shivkumar Sharma will then charm the audience with his Santoor recital and the day will end with a performance of vocalist Pandit Jasraj.
The second day will include performances by Ramakant Gaikwad, Sumitra Guha, Anand Bhate and Ajay Pohankar (all vocal) and Bharatnatyam dancer Sucheta Bhide-Chapekar. On the third day, Shrivani Jade, Shrinivas Joshi and Ulhas Kashalkar will offer vocal recitals, while Manju Mehta, a disciple of Sitar legend Ravi Shankar, will perform along with Partho Sarathi on the Sarod. The session will also witness 'Dhrupad Sanch', a unique performance by vocalists Gundecha brothers and their co-performers on the saxophone and flute.
The morning session of the fourth and final day will start with a vocal performance by Dhananjay Hegde and a Rudra Veena recital of Bahauddin Dagar. The session will end with a performance by vocalist Malini Rajurkar.
Ambi Subramaniam, son of L Subramaniam, will commence the evening session with a violin performance in Karnatic style. He will be followed by Gwalior gharana singer Meeta Pandit, Padma Deshpande, the granddaughter-in-law of Sawai Gandharva, and playback singer Suresh Wadkar. Sitar player Purbayan Chaterjee will perform after Wadkar and Kirana gharana doyenne Prabha Atre will perform the grand finale of the festival.
Tickets for the festival will be available from December 4 at Shirish Traders (Kamala Nehru Park), Navdikar Musicals (Kothrud), Dinshaw and Co (Laxmi Road) and Behre Bandhu Ambewale (Shanipar). The season tickets for chair seating will cost Rs 2,500, while those for 'bharatiya baithak' (seating on mats) will cost Rs 350. The daily tickets for the non-chair seats will be priced at Rs 100 per day (Rs 200 for the last day, which has two sessions). Students can buy season tickets for Rs 200 on presenting their identity cards.