The 32nd edition of world’s longest classical music festival Saptak 2012 is to take place at Amrut Mody School of Management, near IIM-A from today.
This is a maiden shift of venue for the 13-day long festival, which has always been organized at Kashiram Agarwal Hall. The venue change is prompted by the attempt to accommodate the rising volume of listeners and fans that the festival has began attracting from across the world.
While the earlier venue had capacity to accommodate about 2,000 to 3,000 listeners, the capacity at the new venue is for 5,000-odd people. The heady combination of shehnai and sitar with Ustad Ali Abbas Khan and Kartik Sheshadri, accompanied by Shubh Maharaj on tabla will begin Day 1 of Saptak 2012.
Ancient instruments like Surbahar, Vichitra Veena, Rudra Veena, Israj, Rubab, Nakkara, Naal, and Khadtal will also feature in the fest, which is an attempt to revive them. Praful Anubhai, of Saptak said, “The festival is dedicated to past maestros including Sultan Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Sharda Sahay (tabla) and Mahemud Dholpuri (harmonium). We will show clips of their performances at Saptak, and also will highlight photos from Saptak library at the new venue.”
