37th Annual Sangeet Sammelan

Dates: 24th, 25th and 26th of October 2014

Venue: Bhartiya Vidhya Bhavan, Sector 27, Chandigarh

Our 37th Chandigarh Sangeet Sammelan concluded on the 26th of Oct. We had three sessions of soulful music presented by some well known artistes of the country. We had the pleasure of having a group of eight music lovers from Lahore, as part of our audience this time. Some of these members are a part of the Sanjan Nagar institute (Lahore), where we had taken our team from I N T to perform in March this year.

On day one, (24th of Oct.), the concert commenced with a vocal recital by Pt. Arvind Sharma. Pandit Arvind Sharma started his performance with Raag Nand – Vilambit khayal in Ektaal – ‘E Baare Saiyaan’, followed by a Drut Khayal in TeenTaal -‘ aju na aye Shyaam’ . After this he presented Raag Tilakamod (chota khyaal)- ‘koyaliya bole ambuwa” followed by another beautiful composition in Raag Kalavati. He concluded with Raag Malkauns – Ashtpadi in Raag Maulkauns -‘ Adya Smardam na Shankara’. He was accompanied by Paramjit Singh on the Tabla, Neeraj Gandhi on the harmonium, and both his sons Aditya and Adamya, gave him good vocal support. One of the members of the visiting group from Lahore, Dr. Gazala, honoured the artistes.

After Pt. Sharma’s vocal recital Anupama Bhagwat gave an enthralling Sitar recital starting with a Vilambit gat in Raag Jhinjhoti (Vilambit Ektaal), followed by a traditional medium tempo composition composed by the late Inayat Khan. The hard work put in by her, for perfect finger movement was evident in the way she beautifully rendered the Raag. She concluded with a Dhun in Raag Mishra Peelu. She was accompanied by Mahmood Khan on the Tabla. Another visiting member of the Lahore group , Qaasim Jaffri honoured the artistes.

On the second day of the Sammelan the audience was presented with scintillating vocal performances by Manjusha Patil and Shounak Abhisheki. Both the vocalists won applause from the audience through rendition of different ragas.

Manjusha Patil began her recital in Raag Bihag with a Vilambit composition in Ektaal – ‘Ae Ma Dhan Dhan re’ followed by a fast composition in Drut Teentaal. She continued with a beautiful composition set to Rupak taaal in Raag Sohni -‘ jiyara re’ followed by a Drut Teentaal composition. In her mellifluous voice she sang some complicated permutations with great ease. She concluded her recital with a beautiful traditional bhajan -‘Payo ji maine Ram ratan dhan payo’. She was accompanied by Avirbhav on the Tabla, Pramod Marathe on the Harmonium and Tarun Garg and Anandini on the Tanpuras. Dr. Athar Muhammad Masood honoured the artistes.

After this beautiful recital, Shounak Abhisheki presented a wonderful rendition of Raag Jaijaivanti..the Vilambit composition was set to Ektaal- ‘Kahan kal Vahi’, followed by a Drut composition in Ektaal ‘ bairan jaagi naveli’. He has imbibed the intricacies of his father’s (the late Jeetendra Abhisheki) gayaki. He concluded with a popular bhajan sung by his late father Jeetendra Abhisheki, ‘Shiv ke Mann sharan ho’. He was accompanied by Paramjit Singh on the Tabla, Paromita Mukherjee on the Harmonium and Tarun Garg and Ananadini on the Tanpuras. He was honoured by Tariq Jameel another distinguished visitor from Lahore.

The concluding day (26th morning), witnessed a beautiful flute yugalbandi by Suchismita and Debopriya. They presented two compositions in Raag Ahirbhairav followed by a lighter composition, which blended into a medley of devotional compositions. They were accompanied by Avirbhav on the tabla. One of the distinguished ladies ( from the Lahore group), Baela Jameel , honoured the artistes.

Before the second artiste presented her recital, Dr. V.C.Nanda, spoke a few warm words and recited some beautiful couplets in honour of our guests from Lahore after which Sh. Anil Nehru presented each visitor from Lahore , with a small gift from INT.

The second artiste for the morning was the well known Ashwini Bhide Deshpande. She started her recital with Raag Jaunpuri. Her first slow tempo composition was set to Vilambit Teentaal-‘ Sultan Auliya Peer Maan’ followed by a fast composition ‘Jhoolat Hindole Sakhiyan sang’ set to Teental followed by another fast tempo composition ‘ Payal Baajan Lagi Re Mori’ in Drut Teental.

She continued with two beautiful compositions in Raag Kukubh Bilawal. The first composition was in Madhyalaye (Jhaptaal) composed by the founder of her tradition, the late Aladiya Khan Sahib himself-‘Ghar aaj Dulha’ followed by a Drut Ektaal composition ‘Sab mil Gaao’.

She concluded with a Kabir bhajan. She was accompanied by Abirbhav on the Tabla, Paromita Mukherjee on the Harmonium, and her student Ashupreet on the Tanpuras. Gen.. V.P. Malik, ( former Chief of Army staff) , honoured the artistes.On the request of the President of Indian National Theatre Sh. N. Khosla, she sang ‘Vasihnav Jan toh tene kahiye’ and the artistes present there, joined her for a wonderful concluding message for all.