‘Nupurnaad Music and Dance Festival’ on April 30, May 1

Pune, April 24, 2023: The fourth edition of ‘Nupurnaad Music and Dance Festival’ will be held on April 30 and May 1 at Majenta Lawns on the DP Road in Erandwane. The festival is organized by Bhairavi Sangeet Prasarak Mandal and its details were announced in a Press Conference held today by Mandal’s President and well-known Santoor player Dr Dhananjay Daithankar.

Mandal’s secretary and Bharatnatyam exponent Dr Swati Daithankar, Bharatnaytam dancer and actress Nupur Daithankar and promising Santoor player Ninad Daithankar were present on the occasion.

The entry to the festival is free on a first come first serve basis. “In the festival, we are presenting different elements of music, dance,” said Dr Dhananjay Daithankar. The festival will be inaugurated by Dr Bhagyashree Tai Patil, Pro Chancellor, Dr DY Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune by lightning of the lamp.

The festival will begin with 35 dancers of the ‘Nupurnaad’ Academy and students of Dr Swati Daithankar and Nupur Daithankar, paying a tribute to Padmabhushan Dr Kanak Rele, who was the exponent of Mohiniyattam, through their performance. It will be followed by the performance of Vidha Lal, an exponent of Kathak and a disciple of Geetanjali Lal, a recipient of the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Vidha Lal belongs to the Jaipur Gharana.

It will be followed with the performances by vocalist Pandit Raghunandan Panshikar, a disciple of Ganasaraswati Kishoritai Amonkar, who belongs to the Jaipur Gharana and vocalist Pandit Shaunak Abhisheki, son and disciple of Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki.

Pandit Raghunandan Panshikar and Pandit Shaunak Abhisheki will then co-perform for the first time, which will be the fitting finale on the inaugural day.

The second day will start with the performance of singer Arya Ambekar, who will present songs on the theme ‘Krishna Leela’.

“We intend to provide a platform to the promising artists in the festival and hence this year chose Arya to perform in the festival,” Dr Dhananjay Daithankar said.

It will be followed by the Santoor ‘jugalbandi’ by Dr Dhananjay Daithankar and his son and disciple Ninad Daithankar. They will be accompanied by Aditya Kalyankar on Tabla. Aditya is a disciple of Ustad Alla Rakha and Ustad Zakir Hussain.

The festival will conclude with the dance performance by Bengaluru-based dancer Parshavanath Upadhye, who is trained in traditional Mysore style of Bharatnatyam. Upadhye, who has been honoured with Bismillah Khan Youth Award by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, will showcase the premier of his dance show titled ‘Margam’. Dr Swati Daithankar said the Mandal intends to take this festival to different cities of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Kolhapur, Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad.

The first edition of Nupurnaad Music and Dance Festival had started with the performance by legendary Santoor player late Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, Talyogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar, Padma Bhushan Alarmel Valli, Padma Shri Malavika Sarukkai, Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar, Jaythirtha Mevundi, Rukmini Vijaykumar, Padma Shri Vyankatesh Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Pravin Godkhindi among others have performed in the past editions of the festival.