’Gaanasaraswati Mahotsav’ 2018 to commence on the 2nd February in Pune
– Natyasampada Pratishthan and HARMAN present the SIXTH edition of this Grand Classical Music Festival
Pune, January 31, 2018: Natyasampada Pratishthan founded by Late Natashreshtha Prabhakar Panshikar commenced a melodious endeavour, ‘Gaanasaraswati Mahotsav’, a Classical Music festival in 2013. This event acknowledges and celebrates the exceptional contribution of Padma Vibhushan Gaanasaraswati Smt. Kishori Amonkar in the field of Indian Classical Music. The event has been named after her to honour and celebrate her contribution in the field of Indian Classical Music. This edition being the first after her sad demise is a special tribute to this legendary and phenomenal artiste who with her lifelong meditative pursuit of music, not only carved a niche for herself but also created a new path for others to follow.
This year’s Gaanasaraswati Mahotsav will take place between the 2nd and 4th February over four sessions at Mahalaxmi Lawns (near Rajaram Bridge) in Pune. This grand three day festival of Indian Classical Music will feature senior legendary artistes as well as talented upcoming artistes. HARMAN, the premier audio and infotainment group, has been associated with this event as the title sponsor since the event’s inception. Fleetguard has been the event’s Foundation Partner since the beginning. This year’s event is also co-sponsored by Tata Capital, Waman Hari Pethe Jewellers, Soujanya Color, and others.
The festival will commence on coming Friday, the 2nd February at 5.00 PM with a vocal recital by Aparna Panshikar. She will be followed by a Carnatic Flute performance by Vidwan Shashank Subramanyam. This session will end with a vocal recital by Ustad Rashid Khan.
The second day of the festival, Saturday, the 3rd February, will begin at 5.00 PM with a Kathak dance perfomance by Pandit Rajendra Gangani with Rujuta Soman. This will be followed by a vocal recital by Manjiri Asnare-Kelkar. She will be the first recipient of the Gaanasaraswati Puraskar to be awarded in a ceremony before her concert. The session will end with a vocal recital by Pandit Mukul Shivputra.
The morning session of the third and last day of the festival will begin at 9.00 AM on Sunday, the 4th February. Pandit Raghunandan Panshikar will perform a special tribute with his vocal recital to his guru Kishori Tai in this session.
The evening and last session of the event will begin at 5:00 PM on Sunday, the 4th February with a duet by Rakesh Chaurasia (Flute) and Sabir Khan (Sarangi). Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee will follow with his Sitar recital. The festival’s grand finale will be a vocal recital by Pandita Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande.
The event will also include special felicitations. Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee will be felicitated with the Gaanatapaswini Mogubai Kurdikar Puraskar and Mauli Takalkar will be conferred with the Gaanasaraswati Kishori Amonkar Sangatkar Puraskar for their lifelong contributions in the field of music. The event will also feature a launch ceremony of an upcoming book on Kishori Tai.
Donation passes for this event are available at www.kyazoonga.com. Donation passes will also be available starting at 10.00 AM on the 25th February at Navdikar Musicals (Kothrud), Shirish Traders (opposite Kamla Nehru Park), Balgandharva Rangmandir, Tilak Smarak Mandir, and City Pride Theatre (Kothrud).
