Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav to be held on Dec 7-11

November 17, 2016

Bringing in the best artists from the genre of Indian classical music, the city’s most prestigious music festival, Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav is here. The artist line up for the festival, which is scheduled for December 7 to 11, was announced by Shrinivas Joshi, Executive President of the Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal. “This is not just a mere festival but also a way to preserve Indian classical music and carry on Pandit Bhimsen Joshi’s legacy forward,” he said.

A new logo for this year’s festival was also launched. It has been designed by noted calligraphy artist Achyut Palav.

The new logo for the festival

The sixty-fourth Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav will have performances by more than 20 renowned artists that include veterans as well as promising young talent. It will take place at the New English School, Ramanbaug. The timing of the first five days of the festival is scheduled for 4 pm to 10 pm, whereas the timing for the fourth day (Saturday, December 10) may get extended up to midnight.

The inaugural day of the festival will be dedicated to Bharat Ratna awardee, Late Ustad Bismillah Khan to mark his hundredth birth anniversary. He was known for popularising the Shehnai in Indian classical music.

The artists who will be performing for the very first time at the festival include father and son duo, Pandit S Ballesh and Krishna Ballesh, classical vocalists and brothers Ritesh and Rajnish Mishra, flute sisters Debopriya and Suchismita Chatterjee, Hindustani classical vocalist Brajeswar Mukherjee, violinist brothers Mysore Manjunath and Mysore Nagaraj, Bharatnatyam danseuse Purvadhanashree, sitar and sarod brother duo Lakshay Mohan Gupta and Aayush Mohan Gupta, vocalist Dhanashree Ghaisas and Takahiro Arai, a Japanese disciple of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma who plays the santoor.

The veteran artists who cannot be missed at the festival are Ustad Irshad Khan, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, Pandit Uday Bhawalkar, Dr L Subramaniam, Pandit Kaivalya Kumar, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Dr Prabha Atre.

Considering the effects of demonetisation on the market, the season ticket for the chair will cost Rs 3000 only. It has also been decided to reduce the Indian seating price from Rs 350 to Rs 300. The daily ticket for the Indian seating category will be Rs 100. An announcement regarding the payment method for the festival tickets will be announced soon.