Workshops demonstrate the art of creating instrumental music

Musical instruments - stringed plucked, bowed, winged and percussion - can in the right hands produce melodies, which could evoke a range of emotions and according to lore, even the rains!
Now eminent musicians are coming together here for a series of concerts and workshops aimed at giving laypeople an insight into how instrumental music is produced.
The four-day festival "Sound of Music- an introduction to musical instruments of India", which begins here today is scheduled to witness participation from renowned names.
Pandit Bhajan Sopori's son Abhay Sopori (Santoor), Pt Ajay Prasanna (flute) Sudeep Roy (sitar), Chandrima Majumdar (sarod), Aleem Khan (Violin), Rafiuddin Sabri (Tabla), Ghulam Ali (Sarangi), Anees Ahmed and Shakeel Ahmed (vocals) are among those participating in the festival.

"We wish to create an awareness and to bring back the charisma of Indian classical music among the educated, urban middle class youth, who know very little about its depths and intricacies or the instruments used," says Mridula S Tandon who is organising the event.
Tandon, is president of the NGO Sakshi, which is collaborating with SIET for the workshops and concerts.

"Ours is neither a fund raiser nor a sponsored programme, it's a statement of our passionate belief in the need for this as a community service," says Tandon.
She also says the event is also for artistes as they "too need a broader visibility and deserve to be acclaimed by the many who have not had an easy opportunity to enjoy such arts."

Leading instrumentalist Sudeep Rai, a disciple of Debu Chaudhuri, represents the traditional Senia Style of playing Sitar with seventeen frets, the only Gharana in India.
He has held concerts across the country and has penned the book "Jahan-e-Sitar", which sitar enthusiasts say is extremely useful in the understanding of Sudeep's art.
Shakeel Ahmed, a specialist in ghazal who hails from the Delhi gharana has performed across the world both solo and along with artistes like Asha Bhonsle, Kader Khan, Illiyaraja and Munni Begum.
Flautist Ajay Prasanna recieved his training from Banara Gharana's Pt Bholanath Prasanna, who is also the guru of Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia.