Hills of Himachal to echo with the sound of music

It is always heartening to hear of the classical arts being promoted in smaller towns — Delhi Mumbai Kolkata Chennai and Bangalore have their fair share of music and dance shows, specially during the winter months. As such, the forthcoming Shimla Classical Music Festival from October 4 to October 8 is generating palpable excitement in the hill town — for the 4th year in a row, the five-day Shimla Classical Music Festival, featuring the top artists of our country is being held at the iconic Gaiety Theatre. The festival is being presented by the department of Art Language and Culture, Himachal Pradesh.

The festival is to start at 6 pm and conclude before 8.30 pm to enable the hill audience to walk home. Every evening only one artist is to be presented thus allowing the music to be absorbed, like concerts of yesteryear. Nowadays the thread of listening is lost with only an hour or so being allotted to an artist, followed by interruptions of the next lot of performers settling down and needing another few minutes to warm up in the concert. The contact between the artist and audience can easily take upto 30 minutes to develop, and the concept of an hour’s performance does not really bring out the best in a classical music presentation. Minimum an hour and a half should be allotted to experienced artists, to really bring out a satisfying concert. Principal secretary department of Art Language and Culture Anuradha Thakur pointed out that “Himachal has a deep culture of music entwined with social life. Also, it has an association with some of the finest artists of Hindustani classical music. As such, Shimla was thought to be the ideal place for holding a festival of National dimension”.

Ustad Rashid Khan, with his lion’s roar of a voice, who is to open the festivities on October 4 said it was his first concert in Shimla, and he was looking forward to it. He added he had heard a lot about the music concerts that used to take place in Shimla, when it was still the capital of India, and this had continued till the early 1970s, which had attracted even Ustad Vilayat Khan to make Shimla his summer home.  Belonging to the Rampur Sahaswan gharana, Rashid Khan is today equally popular as a classical vocalist as a playback film singer. His unmatched breathtaking fast “taans”, and methodical dissection of the nuances of a Raga make him one of the top vocalists today.

Ustad Shujaat Khan

The second day features a sitar recital by Shimla’s own Ustad Shujaat Khan, who has been a student at the city’s Bishop Cotton’s School in the late 1960s, when his famous father Ustad Vilayat Khan stayed in Parimahal (Palace of the fairies), Kusumpti, Shimla. Shujaat is on record nostalgically talking of those wonderful days, and till today says he loves coming to the hills. He said he was happy that the State Government had taken the initiative of holding an annual classical music festival in Shimla which he recalled used to have a lot of music soirees when his father lived there for a few years. He also hoped that the government would start a sitar festival in Shimla, in Ustad Vilayat Khan’s memory, as has been talked of earlier.

October 6 will feature the Carnatic vocal sensation from Chennai, Vidushi Bombay Jayashri. Easily one of the most popular artists today, with her beautiful timbered voice, it is difficult to get a concert date from this busy performer! Jayashri recalled her earlier visit in 2013 to Himachal, when she toured all over the state. She said, remaining in touch with nature by singing at concerts in places like Shimla was refreshing and she loved it. She also mentioned she had heard the hill residents were God loving, and she was planning to specially sing a few devotional pieces in Sanskrit for them. 

Next day is to feature a young upcoming artist, Indrayudh Majumder from Kolkata. Indrayudh said he was excited at performing at the Festival, specially so, as he was the first ever sarod player to be featured in the festival, which he said “was a rare honour”. 

After him the Shimla based flautist Sunder Lal Gandharva will conclude the evening’s music. The finale of the festival is by none other than Patiala gharana vocalist, Pt. Ajoy Chakravorty. Equally at ease in khayal and thumri gayaki, Ajoyda as he is affectionately known to his numerous fans worldwide, is a highly polished singer, with an awesome repertoire. 

All in all, it promises to be a wonderful experience and one can only hope other States also initiate annual classical music and dance festivals.