After a great success with their first online concert Shanti, the veteran musicians of the city came together to announce the subsequent series of Shanti, with the second episode all set to stream on August 29. Since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic live musical concerts have come to a standstill. To overcome this sitar maestro Pandit Kushal Das and his Arati Music Foundation came up with a one of its kind online Indian Classical concert series titled Shanti that aims at spreading the message of peace, harmony and unity across the world amidst the global pandemic.
“This pandemic has put several professions amidst great difficulty and Indian Classical music is one such profession that is going through a tough time owing to an indefinite pause in the hall concerts. This online Indian Classical Concert series will be professionally conducted and viewed from the safety of our homes. We have got a fantastic response so far from the audience across the world and hope to get some more,” tells Kushal Das.
The concert series' first episode took place last month on July 25 featuring legendary tabla maestro Pandit Anindo Chatterjee followed by one of the finest vocalists of the present generation Omkar Dadarkar’s mesmerising khayal recitation.
“After I recorded the concert, I loved how professional it looked because of the studio ambience in which we shot. However, I was missed hearing the applause and praises during the performance,” says Pandit Anindo Chatterjee.
The second episode that's scheduled on August 29, will witness Ustad Rashid Khan with Pandit Subhankar Banerjee on the tabla and Hiranmoy Mitra and Sarwar Hussain on the harmonium and sarangi respectively. There will also be a performance by young sarod player Debanjan Bhattacharjee along with Sandip Ghosh on the tabla.
The virtual press conference that began with commemorating Padma Vibhushan late Pandit Jasraj, was attended by eminent musicians including Kushal Das, Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumder, Pandit Subhankar Banerjee, Pandit Tanmoy Bose, Vidushi Kaushiki Chakraborty, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee and The Violin Brothers. Among the younger generation of artistes Kalyanjit Das and Debanjan Bhattacharya were present.
Kaushiki Chakraborty pointed out how the entire music fraternity was in grave economic danger and says, ”Some classical musicians have had to sell their instruments to survive. Hence, it's imperative to have paid online concerts where the audience will invest in a combined ambience of professional performance”.