Published On : Mon, Feb 23rd, 2015

Ace flutist Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia brings Brindavan alive

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Nagpur: He is the master of simple means and glorious results, conjuring Brindavans across the globe with his flute. No flutist can measure up to the tonal perfection of Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia as he glides from playful to tranquil and romantic to spiritual. He held the audience in sway with his performance at a concert organised by Banyan Tree Events’ ‘Swara Music for Life’ at Dr Vasantrao Deshpande Hall in the city on Sunday.

Performing for ‘Swara’ for the first time, Pt Chaurasia said, “It’s a great initiative of Banyan Tree to take us to the non-metro cities and help us connect with our patrons and music lovers in these places. I enjoy playing at ‘Swara’ and reaching out through music to my listeners in smaller cities of India.”

Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia
The ensemble of Pt Chaurasia comprised Subhankar Banerjee on tabla and Vivek Sonar on flute. ‘Swara’ was started in 2011 and is exclusively supported by L&T Financial Services with an aim to promote classical music in two-tier cities and towns. The main initiative of Banyan Tree is to spread the beauty of Indian music in tier two cities of India.

The festival usually brings a young local talent and a maestro of repute performing on the same platform in tier II cities. However, in Nagpur, the organisers brought two renowned musicians. The experience was so divine that music connoisseurs transcended to a totally different plane.

The 76-year-old maestro, Pt Chaurasia said that one can not learn an art form by osmosis and gurukuls demand dedication of the highest level. “Music should be your priority and you have to surrender yourself completely at gurukul. In a gurukul, if the learner comes across as a sincere person, he is accepted into the family and all his expenses are taken care of. It is our family, where we eat, play and sleep together.

The idea is to help aspirants who can not afford music schools by training them under gurus.”
Ace vocalist Pt Ajay Pohankar and his talented ensemble comprising Prashant Pandav, Subhash Dasakkar and Dr Dhananjay Joshi took the audience to a journey of Hindustani classical music.

Managing Director, Banyan Tree Events, Mahesh Babu, who is the main force behind ‘Swara’, adds, “We introduced ‘Swara’ in view of the growing interest of people of tier II cities in Indian classical music. It is this love towards our country’s soulful music that brings us back with the fourth edition where we promise to not to disappoint our audience.”

The festival usually brings a young local talent and a maestro of repute performing on the same platform in tier II cities. However, in Nagpur, the organisers brought two renowned musicians. The experience was so divine that music connoisseurs transcended to a totally different plane.