Marking its 30 years on the trot, Saptak School of Music is back with its annual festival starting on the New Year's Day titled 'Viraasat'. As the tradition has been all these years, the festival will be held at Kashiram Bhavan and will go on till January 13. This is not just the biggest festival of Indian classical music, but is a milestone cultural event in the country.
To mark this three-decade-long journey, an exhibition has been put together - 'Saptak: A Momentous Journey Of 30 Years'. The exhibition will be on display at the venue throughout the festival.
This time the festival is being dedicated to Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, the legendary instrumentalist and a towering musician, who passed away in June. As a special ode to Khan, seven sarod recitals will form a part of the festival, including one by his son Ustad Ashish Khan.
The festival has been titled Virasat to underline a special feature wherein three generations will perform together. Dr N Rajam, well-known violinist, her daughter and two granddaughters will perform in one session. Busting the myth that it is difficult to preserve Indian classical music in modern times, this year's festival presents many generations of musicians -- some together, some separately.
The festival will have 15 sessions and feature more than 130 artists and over 14 different instruments. Now Saptak introduces afternoon sessions on Sundays to cover a different set of ragas. The vocal section covers the entire spectrum of classical forms from the stylised classicism of Dhrupad to Khayal and Thumri. Various gharanas and styles are represented.
A special session created by Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt will feature some Rajasthani folk artists. Kathak has been considered as an art form which has its roots and development in North India. This art form combines classical music woven around the talas of the North Indian system and has been adopted by many Gujarati dancers. Madhavi Jhala will also perform at the festival.
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