Chhayanaut's Shuddha Sangeet Utshab begins today

Chhayanaut's annual Shuddha Sangeet Utshab begins today (December 17) at its main auditorium in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. The two-day classical music festival, comprising three sessions, will end on December 19 morning.

The ninth edition of the festival, featuring both vocal and instrumental music, will be formally inaugurated by eminent music guru Ustad Md. Yasin Khan. 

The programme will begin at 6pm on December 17 with the lighting of candles as a symbol of diffusing knowledge; followed by a welcome address by the organisers along with speeches by the chief guest and a choral performance by the artistes of Chhayanaut. The festival aims to fulfill the desire of music lovers for events dedicated to classical music and to inspire the practice of the genre in Bangladesh.

Besides group performances by Chhayanaut artistes, Abhijit Kundu (vocal), Murtaza Kabir Murad (flute), Priyanka Gope (vocal), Mir Naqibul Islam (tabla) and vocalist Brajeshwar Mukherjee [ of Kolkata, India] will perform at the first session (6pm-10:30pm) on the inaugural day.

The second session of the festival will start at 9am and continue till 1pm the next day (December 18). Alamgir Parvez Sumon (vocal), Srabanti Dhar (vocal), Sheuli Bhattacharjee (violin), Satindranath Haldar (vocal) and Chhayanaut artistes will give a choral performance at the session.

The third session of the festival will set off on the same day at 6 pm, and will continue till the next morning. Apart from choral vocal and group tabla performances by artistes of Chhayanaut, several noted and promising vocalists -- Pt. Amaresh Roy Chowdhury, Asit Kumar Dey, Rezwan Ali Lablu, Khairul Anam Shakil, Bizon Chandra Mistry, Tapas Datta, Latifun Julio, Sanjiban Sanyal, Supriya Das and Sushmita Debnath Suchi will perform khayal music while Shushen Kumar Roy (pakhawaj), Ebadul Huq Shaikat (sitar) and sarodia Debasmita Bhattacharya [ of Kolkata, India] will present instrumental recitals at the nightlong session.