6th Bengal Classical Music Festival begins in Dhaka

To celebrate the collective legacy of classical music, deeply rooted in spiritual and ethnic traditions of India and Bangladesh, the 6th edition of Bengal Classical Music Festival began here today with a grand line-up of maestros from the two countries.
Organised by the Bengal Foundation, the five-night musical fete will see eminent musicians from India including Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Ustad Rashid Khan.
In its sixth year now, the musical celebration has seen an increase in people's taste towards Classical music with a visible rise in the number of attendees, according to the organisers .

Speaking on the sidelines of the event, renowned flautist Rakesh Chaurasia said there was a renewed enthusiasm especially in the younger generation for classical music.
"There's a great deal of freshness and energy in the younger generation today. No longer is it about how many white hair you have to consider how good you can be. Even in the audience, so many younger people are joining," he said.
Chaurasia, who will be performing at the BCMF for the first time, will pair up with Purbayan Chatterjee on sitar for his performance.

Without any raga or a composition planned beforehand, the musical duo rely on the mood and emotions at the time of performance.

"We haven't planned anything for the evening, we are just going to flow with the moment. That's what classical music is all about. We play from heart... your nature should reflect in your music too.
"Classical happens in the present moment -- what you are thinking and feeling. That's why people come to experience live music, because it wouldn't be the same even the next day," Chatterjee added.
Classical music in the Indian subcontinent remains dominated by stalwarts like Pandit Jasraj among others from an older generation.
However, according to Chaurasia and Chatterjee, the scene is changing now with classical music becoming a "viable and dignified" career option.

"Classical music and music in general has become a more viable, more dignified option than it was in the past. There are many options of performing within the country as well as at international locations. Earlier, in 80s-90s, it was a big thing to be performing international, but now it's a big thing to perform in India," Chatterjee said.
"The scene is super encouraging in India right now. It's the best country to be working in entertainment industry. Even better than, say if you are working in Hollywood. Even for classical, it's the best place in the world," he said.

The inaugural evening of the gala event witnessed, for the first time in Bangladesh, performance by Astana Philharmonic Orchestra from Kazakhstan, collaborating with violin virtuoso L Subramaniam.
Other performances lined up for the evening included Rajrupa Chowdhury (Sarod), Padma Talwalkar (Khyal), Firoz Khan (Sitar), and Supriya Das (Khyal).