Doyens of Hindustani music to welcome spring at music festival

Renowned classical singer Girjia Devi will open a four-day festival here to celebrate the spirit of spring.
The 70th edition of "Shriram Shankarlal Music Festival", set to begin tomorrow, will welcome spring with semi-classical songs like 'Chaiti', 'Kajri' and 'Dadra'.
The first edition of the festival took place on August 15, 1947 (the day of India's Independence), recalls the festival director Shobha Deepak Singh.
"The very first edition was organised by my mother on the day of Independence. Artistes like Hafiz Ali Khan, Ali Akbar Khan and several others performed at that time. The festival has grown ever since with the pioneers of Indian classical music performing year after year," Singh told PTI.

The festival has also become a forum for new artists to showcase their talent alongside the maestros.
"In its nascent years, it was only the senior artists who were part of the festival, but now, we make special effort to include younger talent as well. The future of this vibrant heritage lies in the hands of upcoming artistes," says Singh.

The classical dancer, who is known for the revival of Mayurbhanj Chhau- a tribal martial dance form from Odisha, says classical music has retained a "unique position in Indian arts".
"Contrary to popular belief that classical music is losing its audience base, the success of the festival year after year proves that there is not only a discerning audience for classical music but also that classical music retains its unique position in Indian arts," she says.

Other participating artists in the festival are Manjiri Asanare (vocal), Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma (instrumental on santoor), Biswajit Roy Chowdhury (instrumental on sarod), Rashid Khan (vocal), Purbayan Chatterjee (instrumental on sitar).
The festival will end with an acoustic performance by Pandit Jasraj on April 2.