99th Pratahswar Concert on Sunday: Here's all you need to know

Indian classical music seeks to establish a close correlation with natural cycles and phenomena and evoke the emotions associated with them. Ragas are classified and performed not only according to the times of the day, but also the seasons of the year, and are rendered according to the moods that are considered aesthetically compatible to them.

In this traditional early morning concert of 99th Pratahswar by Pancham Nishad presents one of the renowned vocalist Prabhakar Karekar accompanied by Bhushan Parchure on Tabla and Anant Joshi on Harmonium at Kala Prangan, Pu. La. Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Academy, Ravindra Natya Mandir, Prabhadevi, Mumbai on Sunday, 23rd December 2018 at 6.30 a.m in a non-ticketed concert.

“Pratahswar”, concert series of morning ragas is presented on a Sunday morning once a month from October to May of next year featuring mainly young and senior talented artistes. The duration of the concert is two hours.

It may be noted that “Pratahswar” has never repeated any artiste in all its 98 concerts till date. It has featured many talented artistes such as Samrat Pandit, Sahana Banerjee, Niladri Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Ramakant Gaikwad to veteran musicians such as Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ulhas Kashalkar, Ashwini Bhide Deshpande N. Rajam and to name a few.  Pratahswar is considered to be a “Brand Event” in the world of Indian Classical Music has built a loyal audience of about 700 discerning listeners in the early hours of the day.

Prabhakar Karekar is one the most respected vocalists of the Northern Indian style of Classical Music. Born in 1944 in Goa, He received his training in Hindustani vocal music from Shri Suresh Haldankar, and Shri Jitendra Abhisheki, and was further groomed by Shri C. R. Vyas.

What stands in good stead is his versatility - he is equally proficient in all forms of vocal music, be it traditional khayal, thumri, dadra, bhajans or Marathi natyasangeet - as well as his ability to evoke and intensify emotions in his expansion of the raga. His performances are laced with rhythmically complex taans or variations, which go beyond merely exhibiting virtuosity. The meticulous manner in which he explores and characterizes the ragas that he performs appeal to the connoisseurs and the common 'rasikas' alike.

He is also the founder and Chairman of the Swarprabha Trust. Karekar has trained several promising and accomplished young musicians. He has many recordings to his credit and has performed lectured and held workshops or taken part in conferences in many countries.

He entered the world of fusion music with Ornette Coleman (U.S.A.), and Sultan Khan (India).  He was awarded Tansen Samman in 2014 and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in the year 2016 for his contribution to Hindustani vocal music.