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Bhubaneswar, August 21: An evening dedicated to Hindustani music, at Rabindra Mandap Sunday, featured compositions in the evening ragas Nand, Bahar and Sampurna Malkauns rendered by Vishwas Shirgaonkar from Rajasthan. The programme was organised by Bhubaneswar Music Circle.
Vishwas was confident that compositions in raag Nand, also known as Anandi, Anandi Kalyan or Nand Kalyan, could instantly create a unique mood. And his opening rendition did exactly that.
The next composition was in Raag Bahar. “Bahar is able to effectively portray the blessings of nature,” the singer explained.
The evening concluded with a composition based on Sampurna Malkauns.
Vishwas is a vocalist trained in the Gwalior musical tradition under Pandit Anant Kogaje and the late Pandit Yeshwantbua Joshi. He had been initiated into Hindustani classical by his first guru Pushpa Rajhans.
Subsequently, Vishwas was drawn into the gayaki of Jaipur Gharana by late Pandit Anandrao Limaye. Today he melds the two major substreams of the Jaipur Gharana gayaki.
He is a regular performer in India and the US and is currently a member of faculty and the board of directors of India International School, Washington DC, where he is engaged in teaching and popularising Hindustani music.
Vishwas has created a musical composition of ‘Meghdoot’, the classical Sanskrit work of 4th century poet Kalidas, for a Kathak ballet choreographed by Pandit Birju Maharaj and produced by the Indian Classical Dance Company of Washington.
At Sunday’s event Vishwas was accompanied by Jitendra Kumar Swain and Akash Ranjib Biswal on the tabla and harmonium respectively.
Akash has been training to playthe harmonium since 2008 under Pt Sudhir Nayak in Mumbai. He is also a Hindustani vocalist. “I sing khayals and have been training under Kumar Mardul of Kolkata,” Akash, a native of Kendrapada, said.
Jitendra, has been playing the tabla since 1990 and has performances abroad to his credit. The 47-year-old born in Cuttack aspires to expose the world to Hindustani music.
