SaMaPa SANGEET SAMMELAN 2023 ( 4th to 5th November, 2023)
SaMaPa 19th three day Sangeet Sammelan concluded on the 5th of November ,2023. Held at Kamani Auditorium , Copernicus Marg,New Delhi , this annual festival is a pioneering effort of the Sopori family to spread goodwill and happiness in masses through the Indian Classical, Sufiana, folk and light music. It was Pandit Bhajan Sopori the veteran Santoor maestro who gave practical shape to the idea of his illustrious father and doyen of classical music Pandit Shambhoo Nath Sopori and established SaMaPa or Sopori Academy of Performing Arts. Apart from holding the annual music festival ,SaMaPa has also been honouring highly talented musicians, musicologists and highly creative persons from the country with prestigious SaMaPa Awards . The initiative of Pandit Bhajan Sopori has now become a major platform for the propagation and promotion of Hindustani classical music in the country . The vision of Pandit Shambhoo Nath Sopori and the legendary maestro Pandit Bhajan Sopori is being translated into a cultural movement by his son Pandit Abhay Rustum Sopori who ably assisted by his great mother Aparna Sopori . And SaMaPa is moving efficiently towards its cherished mission : Jan Jan Tak Sangeet – Music to the Masses .
This year also, apart from performances by a galaxy of artists ( vocalists and instrumentalists ), the award distribution ceremony was a major event of the festival . There is hardly any established musician in the country who has not been invited or honoured by SaMaPa in these annual festivals . Some previous recipients of SaMaPa Awards are; Vidushi Girija Devi ( renowned vocalist ), Dr L Subramaniam( renowned violinist ) ,Pandit Birju Maharaj (renowned Kathak dancer), Hema Malini ( actress and Bharatnatyam dancer) , Ustad Amjad Ali Khan ( Sarod maestro) ,Begum Parveen Sultana ( renowned vocalist ) , Sh. Anoop Jalota( devotional singer ), Pandit Debu Chowdhary ( renowned Sitarist) , Pandit Vijay Shanker Mishra ( musicologist and music critic), Chetan Joshi ( Hindustani classical music, flute ) ,Pandit Rajan and Pandit Sajan Mishra (renowned vocalists ), Ustad Abdul Haleem Jaffer Khan ( veteran Sitar player), P Susheela ( playback singer) , Vidhushi Malini Awasthi ( light classical and folk music ), Ustad Mohi Bahauddin Dagar ( Rudra Veena ) ,Ghulam Hassan Sofi ( Kashmiri light music) , Raj Begum ( Kashmiri folk and light music) , Kailash Mehra Sadhu ( Kashmiri ,Dogri and light music), Romalo Ram ( Dogri folk music), Ghulam Mohammad ( Dogri folk music), Waheed Jeelani( Kashmiri light music), Ustad Ghulam Mohammad Sazanawaz ( Sufiana music), Rafeeq Masoodi ( Kashmiri art, culture and language ) , Abdul Rashid Qureshi ( Pahari and Gojri music ), Abdul Gani Rather Trali ( Kashmiri folk music ), Gulzar Ahmed Ganai ( Kashmiri folk Music) , Abdul Rashid Hafiz( Kashmiri Sufiana and folk music), Munir Ahmed Mir ( Kashmiri light music ), Shameem Azad ( light music ), Agnishekhar ( poet ,writer and scholar), Arun Chatterjee ( art and music critic), Ravinder Kaul ( music critic and journalist),Shashi Prabha Tiwari ( music journalist ),Deo Datt Sharma ( writer and music critic ) and many more. Following persons were conferred by SaMaPa 2023 Awards :-
1 Pandit Dal Chand Sharma (Pakhwaj maestro ).
2 Dr Rosalin Patasani Mishra ( Parichay Foundation ,Odisha...art,culture and music)
3 Shahnaz Rashid ( Kashmiri poet and translator )
4 Avtar Mota ( extensive writing on art and culture of Kashmir and columnist )
5 Prabhakar Kashyap and Diwakar Kashyap( Hindustani classical music ..vocalists)
6 Viraj Joshi ( Hindustani classical music..vocalist )
7 Sadhna Shrivastav ( film maker, cultural consultant and television and stage presenter )
In this three-day music festival, one could see many well known musicians of the country enthralling the audience with their performance.Ustad Murad Ali, the Sarangi maestro kept the audience spellbound. Viraj Joshi ,grandson of Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi was superb in his vocal presentation. Vidushi Subhra Guha( vocalist) drew huge applause for her presentation. Her accompanying instrumentalists like Tabla maestro Pandit Ram Kumar Mishra and harmonium player Ustad Zakir Dholpuri were simply brilliant. Her Gayaki was an electrifying performance. Similar was the Kathak dance by the troupe led by Deepak Maharaj and Ms Ragini Maharaj. One falls short of words in praising the brilliant performance of Pandit Abhay Rustum Sopori ( Santoor maestro ) in this festival. His accompanying musicians like Ustad Rafiuddin Sabri ( Tabla) and Rishi Shanker Upadhyay ( Pakhawaj ) also deserve appreciation. Kashyap Bandhus ( vocalists , Prabhakar Kashyap and Diwakar Kashyap ) were equally superb.
Some other prominent artists who performed in the festival include Vidhushi Shashwati Mandal ( vocalist ) , Ustad Akram Khan ( Tabla) , Pandit Durjay Bhowmick ( Tabla ), Joydeep Mukherjee ( Sursingar and Sarod) ,Shyam Rastogi ( Surbahar and Sitar) ,Ankush Nayak ( Sitar) ,Ajay P Jha ( Mohan Veena) ,Promita Mukherjee ( harmonium ) , Zuheb Khan ( Tabla), Sabina Mumtaz Islam( vocalist ), Hari Om Hari ( Tabla) ,Vinay Mishra ( harmonium), Ankit Parikh (Pakhawaj ), Aman Ali Khan ( Tabla) , Ustad Salman Warsi ( Pakhawaj), Ustad Varis Khan (Sarangi ) ,Shahnawaz Ali and Subhan Ali ( Sarangi players, grandchildren of Ustad Ghulam Sabir Khan the renowned Sarangi player from Moradabad Gharana ) and Ujith Udhay ( Tabla ) .
On the stage, the festival events were compered by Sadhna Shrivastav who struck a perfect rapport with the audience through her style and eloquence. The Festival Anthem ' Sarsawati Vandana' by the students of Sarla Chopra DAV Public School Noida was composed and sung to perfection. It was a pleasure to see paintings of J&K artist in the foyer of the auditorium exhibited in collaboration with the J&K Academy of Art Culture And Languages by SaMaPa .The festival was coordinated by eminent musicologist and music critic Pandit Vijay Shanker Mishra . Indian Oil and IFFCO were the major sponsors of the festival. It was nice to see Rafeeq Masoodi assisting the Sopori family on and behind the stage during the festival .
It was an amazing experience to see how dedicatedly the vision of Pandit Bhajan Sopori is now being carried forward by his son and renowned Santoor maestro and composer Pandit Abay Rustum Sopori ably assisted by his mother Aparna Sopori. One could see the mother son due receiving guests, ,artists, presenting awards, looking after the minutest issues inside the auditorium and ensuring everything is done to its perfection . One can't explain how much efforts the Sopori family has put in every sphere for this music festival. In spite of the deadly air pollution and public warnings about health hazards, lovers of music and fans of Pandit. Bhjan Sopori and Pandit Abhay Rustom Sopori flocked from across the country to be there at Kamani auditorium on all the three consecutive days. Through this festival ,one got a feeling that music, both classical and Sufiana is in the safest hands. It is going to flourish and bring peace and goodwill. I am more than sure about that now. It is a pleasure to see young Abhay Rustum Sopori maturing to a highly acclaimed composer and Santoor maestro . His command on notes , improvisations ,time control, ability to play through changes and use music theory are simply unbelievable. Divinity moves through his compositions and physical presence on stage . I have yet to see a musician who doesn't praise Pandit Abhay Rustum Sopori.
Dhanya bhaag pitu so jug jaana
Kaan suna Jo poot bakhaana………………….( Goswami Tulsi Das )
( What more luck does that father need in this world ,
who listens his son’s praise from one and all.? )
( Avtar Mota )
CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
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